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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28152651">Substitute</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsfurcoat/pseuds/Thorinsfurcoat'>Thorinsfurcoat</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Guns N' Roses</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>M/M</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-01-31</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 17:14:45</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>34,273</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28152651</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thorinsfurcoat/pseuds/Thorinsfurcoat</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“Sure, Stevie. Let’s just ask some random stranger to come with me as my fake boyfriend to meet my family. That sounds like a perfect plan to me. So, who do you think we should choose? That burly truck driver over there who just finished his fourth beer? Or maybe that fiftyish man over there with the suit and tie?"</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Axl Rose/Slash | Saul Hudson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>74</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, nor do I claim that anything there happened for real. This is a product of my imagination and is meant for entertainment only. This work may contain some mistakes since english is not my first language. </p>
<p>Author's notes: So, here is my first contribution to this fandom. I couldn't get this idea out of my head and I just had to give it a try. Starts with light angst, but turns pretty fast into one of my attempts at humor. I am not sure yet where I will take this story but I will definitely add more chapters if anyone is interested!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In any other context, the situation would almost be comical. The same exact discussion, once again, repeated in almost the same words as the last time this topic had come up, or the time before that. The only difference was the absence of any tension. Gone were the days when they would yell at each other, Slash losing his patience after hours of carefully worded sentences, only to end up with an extremely frustrated Axl who would rant and rage until the curly haired man gave up entirely on trying to make the other man see things differently.</p><p>Today the redhead was strangely quiet, sitting on the ragged sofa with a distant expression on his face, taking regular drags of his cigarette while the other man talked. He didn’t even bother to answer him, simply sitting there silently, glaring at him with an icy stare.</p><p>“We’ve been through this before” he finally said, breaking the sudden uncomfortable silence. “And my answer is still no.”</p><p>Slash let out a frustrated sigh, raking a hand through his black curls. He honestly wasn’t even sure why he still took the time to try and convince the stubborn redhead; he might have been more successful at making a wall understand what he was trying to say. Why couldn’t Axl realize how important this was to him? Didn’t he care at all?</p><p>“Look” he tried again, desperately trying to keep his voice quiet and soothing while his patience with the other man was slowly but surely thinning. “I really don’t get why this is such a big deal for you. I mean, I get it that you’re nervous, that’s why I agreed to cancel the first time, and the time after that. But you can’t just keep refusing, this is getting ridiculous!”</p><p>Slash stopped his nervous pacing to look at Axl who simply stared back at him, his expression seemingly relaxed, but his hard green stare giving away his own frustration with the current subject of conversation. With another heavy sigh he carefully sat down next to the redhead, pushing a handful of curls out of his eyes, refusing to meet the other man’s gaze, instead opting to stare stubbornly at the floor.</p><p>“I get it. Family meetings freak you out. And I totally understand why, with all that shit you went through as a kid. But it’s not like I’m asking you to fly back to Indiana to reunite with your abusive relatives” Slash tried again, his voice barely above a whisper, stealing a brief glance at the other man. Axl wasn’t looking at him, but it was clear from the subtle shift in his sitting position that he was listening attentively.</p><p>“My mom is really looking forward to meeting you, you know. And my grandma’s even worse, she won’t stop pestering me about it. Even my dad insisted to be there, they all really want to meet the man who makes me feel so special. Surely you can understand that?”</p><p>Again, no answer. Slowly, slash brushed tentatively his hand against Axl’s, gently resting it on top of his, letting out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding when the other man didn’t pull away. The redhead shifted his hand slightly, allowing their fingers to entwine while taking a long drag of his cigarette.</p><p>“It’s nothing personal against your family, you know” he finally said in his deep baritone voice. “It’s just… all these family stuff. I just can’t do it.”</p><p>“It’s just one evening. We’ll have dinner all together, that’s all. Surely you can survive this? We don’t even have to stay there for the night if you don’t want to. Please, Axl. Just a couple of hours with them, that’s all I’m asking you. This isn’t a trial or anything like that, they only want to meet you, to talk to you and get to know you a little. No one will judge you, we’re all a cool, open minded bunch of people, really. You have nothing to be scared of.”</p><p>“I’m not scared” Axl replied with a snort. Slash looked hopefully at him, tenderly caressing the top of the other man’s hand with his thumb.</p><p>“So you’ll go?” the curly haired man asked tentatively. Was this it? Had he finally succeeded in convincing him? “I mean, it’s really important to me. I would be very proud to finally introduce my wonderful boyfriend to my family.”</p><p>As he suddenly felt Axl tense up next to him he immediately knew that he had said the wrong thing.</p><p>“I never said I would go.”<br/>
There it was. One little sentence crushing the last of Slash’s hopes. He had thought that he was close, so close to finally getting the answer he had been trying to get for weeks, but now it was clear that nothing he would say could change Axl’s mind. Pulling his hand away from the redhead’s he let out a deep sigh of sadness and buried his face in his hands. This was unfair. All he was asking for was for Axl to meet his family, at least once. His mother and grandmother were looking forward to it, yesterday again they were babbling on happily to him about how nice it would be to finally get to know the mystery man who made Slash so happy. But Axl obviously didn’t care. Not about his waiting relatives, not even about him, the man he loved.</p><p>Sure, it would be way beneath someone like Axl to actually confess his feelings to anyone, especially another man. The only thing he would admit was that the sex was great, nothing more. But Slash didn’t care, because he knew better than to be fooled by the other man’s attitude. He had seen the warm gazes and little smiles Axl sometimes had on his face when they were together, the tender little pecks on the lips, the way he had entwined their fingers together a few moments earlier. Or, just now, the way Axl shifted on the sofa next to him, slowly draping an arm around the dark haired man’s shoulder. Okay, maybe it was pushing things a little too far to say that Axl didn’t care, but he surely had a weird way to show it.</p><p>“I’m not making things easy for you, right?” the redhead silently whispered in Slash’s ear.<br/>
“No, that you’re not” the curly haired man answered with a weak chuckle.</p><p>Axl’s free hand gently grabbed the other man’s wrists, pulling his hands away from his face. </p><p>“Look at me” he whispered softly, and Slash slowly looked up, raising his head to meet the other man’s blue-green eyes, all traces of hostility gone from them.<br/>
“I’m a psychotic freak” Axl said slowly in his deep voice. “I have a nasty temper that I can’t always control. I scream, I throw stuff around. I start fights for no real reason.”</p><p>“I know that” Slash answers tentatively, wondering where this was suddenly coming from. “But I’m still there, right? I haven’t run away or thrown you out yet, in case you haven’t noticed.”</p><p>Sure, Axl’s violent tantrums weren’t his favorite side of his personality, by far. His lover’s fierce temper drove him crazy more often than not, and sometimes he just couldn’t gather enough strength and patience to deal with him, opting to go out for a walk, maybe get drunk and pass out in an alcohol-induced bliss while the other man screamed himself hoarse and trashed what little furniture they had in their tiny apartment.</p><p>“Not everyone has your patience” Axl continued softly, pulling Slash out of his thoughts. “You don’t want someone like me around your family, trust me.”</p><p>“You’re not like that all the time. In fact, most of the time you’re not. You’re kind, sweet, even funny when you feel like it.”<br/>
Axl only rolled his eyes at his comment.</p><p>“They will see me for the freak I am, eventually. Everyone does, in the end. And what will happen once they figure it out? Tell me, what will they do when something sets me off, and I start trashing your mother’s place, or yelling rude things at your grandma? What will happen then, Saul?”</p><p>The guitar player flinched at the sudden use of his real name, usually reserved for intimate, tender moments, only now Axl’s voice was suddenly dripping with venom, his face distorted in a sarcastic sneer.</p><p>“Axl” the curly haired man whispered in a tired voice “I really don’t want to talk about that now. I don’t want to listen to you telling me once more how much of a nutcase you are, because that’s not true. You have anger issues, alright, but you’re not insane, no matter how many times you tell me that you are. So if that’s all you have to say to me right now, don’t say it, okay?”</p><p>“Fine” The redhead replied tensely, abruptly standing up from the old battered couch, grabbing his leather jacket and pocketing his cigarettes.</p><p>“And where are you going now?” Slash asked in a sigh, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Why did his partner have to be such a drama queen all the time?</p><p>“I’ll be over at Izzy’s” the redhead replied in a curt tone, staring defiantly at the other man.</p><p>“Will you be back tonight at all?” Slash asked softly, not sure which answer would please him most. Axl stopped in his tracks, staring at him for a moment, seemingly considering his answer.</p><p>“Probably not.”</p><p>“Fine. I’ll be out with Stevie at the bar down the street, in case you change your mind.”</p><p>“Whatever” the redhead replied with a shrug, reaching for the door. Slash let his head fall back with a huge sigh. It looked like he would have to face his parent’s disappointment at Axl’s absence, once again. But for now, he really needed to get drunk.</p><p>***</p><p>“And that’s why you look so sad? Just because he was being an asshole to you again? Come on, it’s not worth it. Cheer up, this is going to be a great night!” Stevie said happily, taking a sip of his drink with his usual bright smile on his face. Of course, Slash thought with a snort, nothing was ever a big deal for his friend. In fact, Slash seriously doubted if there was anything that could put a damper on the blonde’s everlasting good mood. But then, this was one of the things he liked most about the smaller man, the fact that no matter the circumstances, he was always his happy, goofy, smiling self.</p><p>“We were supposed to drive to my parents’ tomorrow for dinner, you know” the guitar player said darkly. What was he going to do? Show up alone? Call his parents to say they were both sick? Tell them the truth, how Axl was too damn stubborn and insecure to agree to spend a single evening with them? </p><p>“You know” Stevie said with a shrug, “you could always make him go with you. Like, threaten to dump him for good if he refuses to come.”</p><p>“Sure, Stevie, as if anyone could make Axl do anything he doesn’t want to do” the curly haired man replied, rolling his eyes.</p><p>The blonde man looked suddenly pensive, sipping at his drink while staring into empty space. Then suddenly his face lit up.</p><p>“Oh, I know! Why don’t you just bring someone else along?”<br/>
Slash stared at him as if he had suddenly grown a second head.</p><p>“What do you mean? I’m supposed to introduce my boyfriend to my family, remember?”</p><p>“No, listen to me” the drummer said, practically bouncing in his seat. “He’s already done this twice before, right? Well, imagine you were to go with someone else, pretend that this person is your boyfriend. Your parents would be happy, and Axl would be jealous as hell! Maybe then he’d change his mind? Hey, I could go with you if you want!”</p><p>Now Stevie was definitely bouncing in his seat like some hyperactive kid in a toy store.</p><p>“Calm down, man” Slash said chuckling softly. “First, there’s no way my parents would buy this. Second, Axl would find a very creative and painful way to kill me when he finds out. And last but not least, we’re childhood friends, my parents know you, remember? Do you honestly think they’ll believe me if I told them that I totally forgot to mention that the man I am dating is actually my best friend?”</p><p>“Oh, right” the other man said with a sigh, looking suddenly put out. “Guess that rules me out then. But it doesn’t really matter, right? I mean, all we need to do is find someone who would agree to play the part!”</p><p>The guitar player rolled his eyes at his friend’s renewed eccentricity. The smaller man was actually scanning the bar, examining every single man present that evening as if considering who would be the best candidate to be Slash’s pretend boyfriend at a family dinner. He couldn’t help but chuckle again, shaking his head at his friend’s crazy ideas.</p><p>“Sure, Stevie. Let’s just ask some random stranger to come with me as my fake boyfriend to meet my family. That sounds like a perfect plan to me. So, who do you think we should choose? That burly truck driver over there who just finished his fourth beer? Or maybe that fiftyish man over there with the suit and tie? What’s a guy dressed like that doing in such a shabby place anyway, I wonder?”</p><p>But Stevie wasn’t listening anymore. He was staring at someone over Slash’s shoulder, probably some random guy standing at the counter. The blonde’s big blue eyes were as wide as saucers, his mouth shamelessly gaping open.</p><p>“Stevie? What’s up now?” the curly haired man asked, raising an eyebrow. That guy really had the attention span of a toddler, forgetting all of a sudden about his brilliant plan that he was so happily babbling about a moment ago.</p><p>“Don’t turn around” the drummer replied in a whisper, bending forwards a little. “There’s a guy over there, a tall fucker who just came in.”</p><p>The guitar player stared at his friend, waiting for him to go on, wondering why some man walking in the bar would put Stevie in such a shocked state.</p><p>“So?” Slash asked when it looked like the blonde had forgotten completely that he was there, sitting right in front of him. Stevie blinked a couple of times, finally tearing his eyes from the stranger to look at his friend.</p><p>“I dunno, he looks so cool! Tall, blonde, dressed like a real punk, hell he’s even wearing  a fucking padlock around his neck! You should see him, he’s incredibly hot!”</p><p>Slash stiffened his laughter at the look of pure hunger on his friend’s face. No matter the place, context or situation he found himself thrown into, the drummer would never let an opportunity pass to flirt with any hot person who happened to cross his path, regardless of that person’s gender.</p><p>“Well, why are you still sitting there, then? Go and talk to him!” Slash suggested with an encouraging smile. Stevie gaped at him, his face an expression of pure shock, switching to pleasantly surprised, then back to his usual brighter-than-the-sun smile.</p><p>“Hell yeah! I’ll go buy him a drink, see if he really is as cool as he looks. I’ll be right back!” Stevie practically squealed as he shot out of his seat and out of his bemused friend’s view. Slash chuckled to himself 	and downed the rest of his drink in one big gulp, relishing in the warm sensation in his stomach. His head was starting to feel pleasantly lighter. Alcohol, he found out, coupled with his bouncy goofball of a best friend’s craziness, was the surest way to cope with any Axl-related incidents.</p><p>Reaching over to grab Stevie’s abandoned Jack Daniel’s bottle, he slowly poured himself another glass, gulping down half of it in one go. He found his gaze briefly lingering by the bar’s entrance, almost expecting a familiar ginger haired man to walk in, looking for him with an apologetic look on his face. Well, maybe not apologetic, that was a bit too much unlike Axl; a murderous look would be more likely.</p><p> Slash sighed as he imagined his still upset boyfriend walking right up to him, screaming obscenities at him for the whole bar to hear before yanking him to his feet by his arm, dragging him outside in some dark alley only to press him up against a wall and crash their lips together in a mix of desperation, anger, and the slightest bit of regret. Maybe there would even have been make up sex, the guitarist mused silently, before shaking his head and taking another sip of his drink. Tonight, none of all that was likely to happen.</p><p>Stevie’s giggling interrupted his thoughts as he stumbled back to him, his tall blonde stranger on his heels. The latter stopped dead in his tracks right beside him, obviously taken aback.</p><p>“Slash? Is that you?”<br/>
The guitarist’s head whipped around, his gaze meeting pale, smiling grey-blue eyes. Slightly shaking his head to clear the fog in his head he took in the tall, lean figure before he finally remembered.</p><p>“Duff? What are you doing here?” he asked laughing lightly. Of all the people he was expecting tonight, Duff McKagan was certainly not on top of his list. </p><p>“You know me, always on the hunt for vodka. It’s been a while, right?” Duff said with a bright smile, casually sitting down next to the curly haired man.</p><p>“Hell yeah” Slash answered with a chuckle. “Last time I saw you your hair was shorter, and bright blue.” The blonde laughed along happily, shaking his head at the memory of his former eccentric hairstyle while Stevie gaped at them, obviously confused.</p><p>“Wait, you guys know each other?” he asked in disbelief.</p><p>“Yeah, we briefly played in the same band like, a year ago?” Duff said, raising an eyebrow questioningly at Slash, his grin never leaving his face.</p><p>“Something like that” the guitarist confirmed with a nod. “Too bad the band fell apart, it was fun hanging out together.”</p><p>“Oh, so you’re a musician too?” Stevie asked excitedly. “What do you play?”</p><p>“I play drums, guitar, bass, whatever’s needed” Duff answered casually. “I sing a little bit too, but that’s not my strongest point” he added with a light chuckle as the drummer stared at him, his mouth slightly open in pure admiration.</p><p>“Me and Slash, we’re in a band” he said proudly, his goofy grin back in place. “We have a singer, two guitars, and I’m on the drums, but I guess we could use a bass player. I mean, we kinda already have one, but he’s not that good, you know, more like a temporary replacement, right?” he added, gazing hopefully at the dark haired man.</p><p>“Yeah, he’s barely above average I guess, and clearly not committed enough. I mean, he’s a nice guy, but he just doesn’t have that attitude, you know?” Slash explained slowly, concentrating to keep the slur out of his speech. “Anyway, if you feel like coming to check us out one of these days, maybe jam a little, it’d be cool, man.”</p><p>“Sure, why not” Duff answered with a smile. Stevie let out one of his ridiculous squeals again, almost making Slash cringe, but as it turned out his friend’s antics were a lot more bearable after some Jack Daniels.</p><p>“That’s great! Wanna have a drink with us? We have so much to talk about!” the bouncy drummer exclaimed, grabbing the bottle on the table only to frown at how little was left in it. The guitar player gave him an apologetic drunken smile, but Stevie only shrugged, announcing happily that he would be right back with more drinks.</p><p>Obviously Stevie’s natural hyperactive behavior wasn’t exactly compatible with excessive drinking, and he jumped out of his seat too fast, failing to catch his balance and landed unceremoniously on the floor, knocking down his and Slash’s empty glasses in the process. Duff and Slash erupted in hysterical laughter, but the taller blonde swiftly got to his feet, grabbing Stevie’s hand to help him up.</p><p>“You alright there? I wouldn’t want you to hurt your cute ass” Duff said, chuckling lightly as he helped a tipsy drummer back into his seat. “Why don’t you sit down quietly for a little while, and I’ll get us more drinks, okay?”</p><p>Stevie gaped at the taller man’s retreating back.</p><p>“Did he just say I have a cute ass?” he told his giggling friend, his face turning an interesting shade of pink. “Do you think he likes me?” the drummer added in what he thought was a whisper.</p><p>“I don’t know, Stevie, maybe?” Slash replied, rolling his eyes at him, still chuckling at the unexpected turn this evening had just taken. But the smaller man wasn’t smiling anymore, his lips forming a little pout.</p><p>“That would be a problem, right? I mean, I’m not saying I would mind if he did, but he’s supposed to step in as your boyfriend, right?” he told the curly haired guitar player, his big baby blue eyes staring at him pleadingly. Slash snorted, rolling his eyes again.</p><p>“Don’t tell me you’re still on that stupid idea” he groaned, running a hand through his thick black curls. “He’s a cool guy, I like him, and he’s definitely coming over to jam with us. But this crazy plan of yours, forget it. I’m not asking him that.”</p><p>Stevie was suddenly strangely silent. Slash looked up at him to see that he had turned a deep shade of crimson, looking everywhere but at his friend.</p><p>“What?” the guitarist asked, raising his eyebrows, suddenly suspicious. And starting to feel suspicious made him feel slightly sober too, which wasn’t good. He wished Duff would hurry with the drinks already.</p><p>“I… It’s just, I might have mentioned my plan to him” Stevie Stammered slightly, carefully eyeing his friend, unsure whether to feel proud of himself or to fear the other man’s reaction. “And, I might have already asked him?”</p><p>“WHAT!” Slash repeated, his voice raised in anger this time. No. This couldn’t be true! Stevie came up with all kind of crazy ideas all the time, that was Stevie for you. But even he wasn’t stupid enough to actually act out on them. He wouldn’t dare! Yet the cowering drummer’s stance, all but trying to disappear out of his seat and under the table told him otherwise.</p><p>Swallowing a big lump in his throat, Slash tried to regain his composure and think calmly, rationally. Alright, so Stevie had actually asked Duff to be a substitute for the guitar player’s boyfriend. Still, it couldn’t be that big of a deal; this was Duff they were talking about after all. Not everyone was as crazy as Stevie. Duff was a cool, easy going guy, but he was also a rational being, right? He had probably just laughed it off and already forgotten about it. No big deal, really, Slash thought as he watched the tall blonde walk back to him with a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and Vodka in the other one, a big friendly grin on his face.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I want to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to read, leave kuddos and reviews for the first chapter, and a belated merry Christmas to everyone! I really appreciate the feedback, and I apologize for taking so long to finish the next chapter, but then who isn't busy at this time of the year!</p><p>So, a long chapter again I'm afraid, full of still unanswered questions and a litlle bit more insight into Slash and Axl's relationship. Plus an added bonus of Stevie being his usual bouncy smiling sunshine self, because I just love writing him like this. Look forward to more chapters, please leave me reviews and kuddos, I'll do my best to answer to everyone this time!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Slash woke up with a groan, feeling like his head was going to explode. He felt sick and dizzy, wanting nothing more than to go back to sleep. Shit, how much had he been drinking the night before? Being drunk felt nice, but waking up with a hangover definitely sucked, he decided as he tried to open his eyes only to shut them tight again. Bright daylight did not agree with him right now. At least he had made it to his bed, he thought miserably. Shivering lightly, he pulled the sheets back over his chest and rolled over, seeking extra warmth from the body lying next to him.</p><p>Wait, did he bring someone home last night? Fuck, he couldn’t remember anything like that. Yet he was definitely not alone in bed. Slowly, as to not wake the sleeping form next to him, he sneaked an arm tentatively over the other body, still keeping his eyes stubbornly closed. His clouded brain could not deal with an unsuspected presence right now.  His hand brushed over a muscular, definitely male chest. So he hadn’t brought some random girl home to get laid. Did Stevie crash next to him last night? It wouldn’t be the first time.</p><p> Shit, they had run into Duff last night! Hopefully he hadn’t fucked up in his inebriated state and ended up doing unthinkable things with him! Was Duff even gay? As far as he remembered the tall blonde man had had various girlfriends, but then hadn’t he made a comment  about Stevie’s ass last night? Shit. Fuck fuck fuck, he recited in his head, trying to slow down his breathing. Panicking definitely wouldn’t help, or change anything that had happened.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, he lifted his hand again to continue his tentative exploration. Reaching up to the other man’s neck, he found out with immense relief that there was no padlock there. No Duff, then. A light brush of his fingers under the man’s shirt found a smooth hairless chest. Stevie was hairy as fuck, so it wasn’t him either. But then who…?</p><p>Just then, his thumb brushed over a nipple ring and realization hit him full in the face. </p><p>“Oh, fuck yes” he mumbled happily to himself, burying his face in the long silken hair, breathing in the familiar smell of lemon scented shampoo and cheap cologne. Axl.</p><p> His Axl, he mused silently, wrapping an arm around him while pressing a tender kiss to the back of his neck. The other man started to stir, stretched a little and rolled over to face his lover.</p><p>“You came back” Slash whispered, gently brushing a strand of red hair out of Axl’s sleepy eyes.</p><p>“You noticed” the redhead replied, rolling his eyes at him, but there was a little smile playing on his lips. “How much did you drink last night? You were out cold.”</p><p>“Too much, I guess” the dark haired man replied, rubbing his eyes tiredly.</p><p>“I tried to wake you up earlier, but you were dead to the world” Axl said softly, propping himself up on one elbow to look at the other man. “So I climbed in next to you, guess I dozed off for a little while. I brought you coffee, but it’s probably cold now” he added, motioning with his hand to the small table they had taken to use  alternatively as a coffee table as well as a nightstand, depending on the circumstances, on which currently sat indeed a cup full of dark liquid.</p><p>“You made me coffee?” Slash asked in amazement. </p><p>“If that instant cheap shit we usually drink qualifies as coffee, then yeah” Axl replied quietly, his eyes shining with amusement.</p><p>“Wow, that’s really kind of you. Thanks, Carrot cake” Slash said with a warm smile, blowing a kiss in his lover’s direction.</p><p>“I wouldn’t have done it if I have known you’d call me that” Axl retorted in his familiar deep voice, rolling his eyes at the ridiculous pet name, making the other man chuckle lightly.</p><p>“Come here, sweet thing” Slash whispered sleepily, snaking an arm around the other man’s waist, pulling him closer to his chest. Axl let him, shifting into a more comfortable position, resting his head in the crook of the dark haired man’s neck with a contented sigh that soon turned into a purr of satisfaction when his lover placed a soft kiss on his forehead.</p><p>Slash closed his eyes slowly again, enjoying the wonderful feeling spreading in his chest. God, he loved this man so much. He would gladly get shit faced every night if he was sure to wake up like this every morning. Things could be so pleasantly simple when Axl was in a good mood. Even physical contact turned out not to be as complicated as Slash had expected, as long as he followed some simple, unspoken rules. </p><p>When they were alone in the comfort of their small apartment, pretty much every kind of contact was allowed. Kisses on the lips and below the belt touches were only accepted if Axl himself initiated it, but hugs and cuddling were rarely refused. As long as Slash respected the other man’s boundaries, intimate contact with his partner was pretty much enjoyable. As fun as it had been to have girlfriends kissing him all the time and jumping on him for sex at every single opportunity, the curly haired man found out that he liked this softer kind of intimacy even more.</p><p>It had taken them some time to work things out, but Axl had pretty soon opened up to him about his abusive past, and Slash had taken the time to understand and work with his partner around his insecurities. Sometimes it was still a little bit frustrating to always have to remember to be careful with every touch, but he would rather be temporarily denied the affection he craved if Axl happened to not be in the mood for it than to push him and unintentionally wake up some painful memories and risk losing him for good. </p><p>“You should drink your coffee” Axl said suddenly against his lover’s neck, snapping him out of his thoughts.</p><p>“You said it was probably cold anyway, so it can wait. I have a day off today honeycakes, we have all the time in the world” Slash replied in a whisper, planting another kiss on the other man’s forehead. “Why are you already up and dressed this early anyway, and freshly showered too it would seem?” he added, making a show of inhaling deeply the scent of his boyfriend’s newly washed hair.</p><p>“It’s early afternoon actually” Axl replied with another eye roll, gently disentangling himself from the other man’s arms to pull himself in a sitting position. “And unlike you I happen to have plans. I’m going out to try to find a job.”</p><p>Slash stared at him in confusion, unsure that he had heard correctly.</p><p>“You? You want to get a job? Are you sure?”</p><p>“I don’t like it, but what choice do I have” Axl replied with a shrug. “It could be months, even years before we get signed and start making money. I still have no PA, yours doesn’t work properly half the time, and Izzy’s sounds like a screeching cat locked inside a trash can. Who’s going to want to sign us when we sound this bad? We need new equipment, and for that we need money.”<br/>
The redhead grabbed his pack of cigarettes from the nightstand, lighting one first for himself before pulling out a second one, offering it to the other man.</p><p>“Look at this dump we live in” Axl said after a moment of smoking in silence, gesturing at the one room that was their home, complete with a tiny kitchen area and an even smaller bathroom. “You earn barely enough to keep us fed, we don’t even have a proper bed!” the redhead exclaimed with a frustrated sigh. </p><p>The curly haired man stared at him in silence, pondering his words. Was he actually making plans for them as a couple? The ‘we’ he had casually used, plus mentioning the need for a bigger apartment and a real bed surely hinted that he was considering their relationship as something important, but one could never be sure with Axl. Still, the guitar player couldn’t suppress a little smile from spreading on his lips.  </p><p>“You know, I could get you a job at the music store if you want. I’ve heard they’re hiring, and I have connections since I work there. I could recommend you if you like” Slash said softly, carefully observing his boyfriend’s expression. Piercing green eyes held his stare, unblinking. The redhead took a few drags of his cigarette, obviously deep in thought; then a small smile appeared on his face.</p><p>“That would be great” he answered slowly in that deep voice of his that always sent shivers down the other man’s spine. “I knew you’re not completely useless after all. Speaking of useless, our drummer is currently passed out on the couch. You’re lucky that he didn’t puke all over the place this time, or I’d have made you clean it up” he said softly, as if such a situation was just part of their everyday life, which it kind of was.</p><p>“Would you like for me to wake him up?” Axl said suddenly, his voice barely above a whisper, his emerald eyes glinting with a mischievous gleam. Slash chuckled at his words, knowing exactly what the other man had in mind. Stevie would hate him for this, but he wasn’t a man to pass on an opportunity to have fun.</p><p>“Be my guest” he whispered back, running a finger tenderly up and down Axl’s arm. The redhead offered him a cheeky grin before silently getting to his feet, carefully sneaking up to the couch where a completely oblivious drummer was peacefully sleeping. Slash rolled over to lie on his stomach, propping himself up on his elbows to get a better view. The redhead had crouched down on the floor, his lips inches from Stevie’s ear. </p><p>“WAKE UP! YOU’RE GONNA DIIIIIIE!!!!” the redhead screamed at the top of his lungs in his screechy, ear splitting high pitched voice. Stevie woke up with a frightened yelp, flailing his arms around before falling from the couch to hit the floor with a loud thump and a miserable moan of pain.</p><p>“The fuck did you do that for?” he said angrily, glaring at Axl while rubbing a lump on his head.</p><p>“For fun, of course” the redhead replied, getting to his feet to sit himself on one of the old couch’s armrests, looking down at Stevie with a fake innocent look, a radiant smile on his lips. “Good morning Steven. Did you sleep well?” he said in such a convincing sweet voice that Slash couldn’t stiffen his laughter. </p><p>“Fuck you” Stevie shot back, his blue eyes glaring daggers at the other man from his spot on the floor. “Thanks to you I have a fucking headache now, you fucking bastard.”</p><p>“Manners, little Steven” Axl chided him. “I guess you’re not much of a morning person. Although, technically it’s not morning anymore.”</p><p>The guitar player chuckled softly, shaking his head at his boyfriend’s antics. He watched as the redhead leapt to his feet and walked towards the fridge, peering inside with a disappointed look.  Stevie flipped him off behind his back before climbing back onto the couch, collapsing on it in a heap with a little whimper. Slash sat up on the mattress, rubbing his still throbbing head. As fun as it had been to see the drummer’s priceless reaction to the prank, Axl’s piercing screeches were definitely not the best cure to a hangover.</p><p>The singer returned with a beer can in his hand, plopping himself down on the mattress next to the curly haired man, casually opening his newly found treasure before taking a long drink from it, completely oblivious to his lover’s offended stare.</p><p>“You could have brought me one too, you know” Slash stated, giving the other man a playful slap on the shoulder. Axl didn’t answer immediately, half mindedly rolling the beverage around in the can with a lazy flick of his wrist, a thoughtful frown on his face.</p><p>“It’s the last one” he said finally, taking another sip before offering it to the man next to him. “I guess we’ll just have to share.”</p><p>“Fine by me” Slash replied, gulping down greedily from the can. “Thanks, gingerbread. You’re the best.”</p><p>“For fuck’s sake, what is it with you comparing me to food all the time? I swear, if I hear one more stupid pet name like that, I’ll chop off your cock in your sleep and stuff it down your throat” the redhead growled threateningly, only getting a cheeky grin in answer.</p><p>“What about me?” Stevie complained from his spot on the couch. “Don’t I get anything?”</p><p>“There’s leftover cold coffee somewhere, help yourself to it” Axl told him, rolling his eyes at him.</p><p>“What about something to eat?” the guitar player asked hopefully, his smile vanishing when the ginger haired man only shaked his head with a sad look on his face. The curly haired man stiffened a groan, mentally cursing their empty fridge. His stomach hurt, he hadn’t eaten anything since the day before. He couldn’t function normally on an empty stomach for so long, he had to eat something, anything, and fast. Even worse than his own hunger however was the sight of Axl’s emaciated face, his cheekbones way too prominent, and his skin an unhealthy shade of white.</p><p>“I’ll go and steal something” the guitarist declared, his eyes shining with determination, slowly getting to his feet while scanning the room for his pants. “Stevie, grab some clothes, you’re coming with me.”</p><p>***</p><p>Slash sighed, burying his hands deep inside his jeans pockets, kicking pebbles off the boardwalk in frustration, cursing himself for his own reckless behavior. It had been barely a week since he had last stolen food from that exact same grocery store, what had he been thinking? He hadn’t even bothered to put on a baseball cap; his mop of afro curls made him naturally stand out, adding even more difficulty to the task. The sky even matched his mood; a cloudy dark sky, chilly and rainy half of the time, alternating with rare brief sunlight. </p><p>It was getting tiring after a while, carefully planning every shoplifting operation, having to remember to choose a different place every time. It was a lot more fun to feel the thrill that came along with the risk of getting caught when he was stealing shoes, records, bracelets or whatever other trinkets he could get his hands on, but when his insides cramped with hunger he just didn’t have the patience anymore. He had briefly considered the slightly safer optionof visiting another shop at the other end of the town, but he didn’t feel the strength to walk such a long way on an empty stomach with a hangover to top it all.</p><p>All he had managed to grab were a can of cheap soup and a pack of crackers. Ever since he entered the shop the desk clerk had eyed him suspiciously; lingering any longer would surely have had disastrous consequences. Stevie was waiting a little further down the road, a pleased expression on his face. He had been luckier, managing to nick a ten dollar bill from an unsuspecting passer by busy looking at some shop front and then using his big pleading blue eyes and bright smile to charm an old lady into buying him a small meat pie at the bakery on the other side of the street.</p><p>“You guys let me crash at your place more than once, it’s the least I can do” the drummer said pushing the pie into Slash’s hands. “You take it, I just hate to see you two starving like that” he added with a shrug, carefully adverting his eyes, cutting short to the other man’s protests.</p><p>“Thanks, Stevie. You’re a great friend” the guitar player said gratefully, feeling a slight pang of guilt in his chest. Stevie only grinned happily at him, before taking the crumpled ten dollar bill from his pocket and quickly stuffing it into the dark haired man’s own jean pocket.</p><p>“Stevie, no!” Slash protested loudly. “You keep that, you need to eat too!”</p><p>“Don’t worry about me!” Stevie chuckled, holding his hands up in a gesture of refusal. “Remember that stripper we met last week?” he asked, a naughty twinkle in his eyes. “She ended up taking me back to her place, and we had a very hot night together. She’s crazy about me, she said I could come over whenever I wanted, and man, I assure you her fridge is never empty” he concluded with a wide grin.</p><p>“Lucky bastard” Slash answered, grinning back. “Still, you should have kept that money.”</p><p>“Nah, I’m fine” Stevie answered with a dreamy look on his face. Suddenly he frowned, deep in thought, as if something had just occurred to him. </p><p>“Hey, strippers make decent money, right? Maybe I could do that, work as a male stripper! I’m sure I’d make loads of money with my looks!” he exclaimed joyfully, starting to bounce on his heels in utter excitement. Slash shook his head at him, unable to keep an amused grin off his face.</p><p>“Maybe you would, who knows. But I’m positive that you’re lots better as a drummer than a male stripper.”</p><p>“You don’t know that, you’ve never seen me do a strip show!” Stevie replied with a hearty laugh. “No, seriously, you need some money for gas, you’ll be driving quite a few miles tonight.”</p><p>The guitarist almost dropped the food in shock. The family dinner! Somehow it had completely escaped his mind… shit, what was he going to do?</p><p>“Fuck, I had completely forgotten that” he groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose with an exasperated sigh.</p><p>“What are you looking suddenly so sad for? Duff agreed to go with you, remember? That means you get to spend a whole evening with him, so don’t complain!” Stevie answered with a childish pout.</p><p>“Shit, I had forgotten that too!” Slash exclaimed, a mixture of anger and panic slowly but surely settling in his chest. Feeling totally helpless, he settled for glowering at the blonde drummer. Why did he have to end up with such a stupid best friend of all people? Thanks to his totally crazy ideas he was now stuck in a very complicated situation. And why did he have to get so drunk that he actually went ahead with it? This shit wasn’t making any sense!</p><p>“So, remember” Stevie said in a suddenly serious tone, completely undeterred by his friend’s murderous glare. “You’re only pretending that he’s your boyfriend, so no kissing and no touching either” he declared in an unusually threatening voice. As if this was the most important thing to worry about right now, Slash thought with a sigh. But, the smaller man’s unyielding expression of determination was too priceless to be ignored.</p><p>“But Stevie, how do you expect it to be convincing if I sit six feet away from him and focus all evening on avoiding even brushing past him, let alone look at him? There’s no way my parents will believe it” the guitarist retorted, swallowing back a cheeky grin. The drummer looked suddenly deflated, at a loss for words. He chewed on his lower lip, his brows furrowed in concentration before he shrugged in defeat.</p><p>“All right, I guess you’ll have to hold his hand at least once to make it believable, but don’t push it” he finally said, looking clearly unhappy with that thought. Slash sniggered at his reaction, quickly hiding it behind his hair, but the drummer had noticed.</p><p>“I mean it, you keep your hands off him, Saul Hudson!” he exclaimed his eyes shining with such anger that the other man took a step back, more than a little taken aback by the use of his full name. Who would have guessed than even Stevie of all people could look frightening when he set his mind to it? </p><p>“I’m not attracted to him, you know that, right? He’s a friend, nothing more. But if you’re going to be so jealous, then why don’t you move your cute ass and ask him out before someone else does?” the guitar player suggested with a big grin.</p><p>“I might just do it” Stevie replied quietly, his cheeks blushing slightly. “But first, he’s going with you to your family dinner. Hey, he kindly agreed to it to help you out, you’re not backing out now, it would be totally mean and unfair to him!” he added with a scowl as the other man scoffed and rolled his eyes.</p><p>“And what about Axl?” Slash asked, unable to keep the annoyance out of his voice. “Where exactly does he fit in all that? I doubt he will be too pleased when he finds out. Yes, it’s nice of Duff to help me out, as you pointed out, but this wasn’t my idea, and I’m not losing Axl because of something you said when you were drunk off your ass.”</p><p>“I was only trying to help!” Stevie shot back, glaring at his friend. “You want to try asking him again to go with you? Fine by me, but I really don’t think he’ll change his mind, selfish bastard that he is. All I did was find a replacement solution because let’s face it, your mom will kill you if you cancel the dinner a third time, you know that as well as I do!”<br/>
And perhaps he was right, Slash thought sadly. His mother would definitely be very disappointed, and his grandma would be pestering him with a thousand questions, not laying off him until she had answers. </p><p>“Fine. I’ll go along with your plan for now, and then I’ll try to figure out a way out of all this mess. Better bring a friend along than not show up again, I guess” he said with a frustrated sigh, nervously running a hand through his hair. “But first, I’ll talk to Axl again. I’m not changing my mind about that point.”</p><p>***</p><p>The guitarist came home to find the redhead sitting on their sorry excuse of a couch, his small black notebook open on his knees, brows furrowed in concentration as he furiously crossed words out before frantically scribbling something else underneath.</p><p>Careful not to interrupt the other man’s thoughts too violently Slash gently sat down next to him, careful to leave enough personal space between them.</p><p>“Axl? I brought food” he said softly as the green gaze slowly turned towards him, obviously interested, shining bright blue green eyes shifted to him and more specifically to the small meat pie in his hands.  The guitar player pushed their little coffee table near the couch before placing everything on it. He had to bite back a chuckle as his lover’s eyes widened at the sight, his mouth almost drooling, his nostrils dilated by the sweet scent as he carefully unwrapped the goods. He was so grateful then for all his struggles, all the risks he had taken, if only to see that look on the other, precious man.</p><p>“Here, why don’t you have the pie? I don’t really feel like eating meat right now, I’ll just have the soup” he declared, dumping the pie on the redhead’s lap.</p><p>“Don’t be stupid” the other man snorted, slowly breaking the pie in two with his bare hands, handing one half to the other man. “Here, eat this.”</p><p>Their gazes locked for a brief while, both staring into the other’s eyes as they simultaneously sniffed their slice of pie before taking a small, careful bite. Slash closed his eyes at the wonderful taste of salted crust combined with the tender, perfectly seasoned meat inside. To top it all it was still lukewarm. He stole brief glances at the redhead only to notice his expression similar to his own, eyes closed, lips stretched in a smile of utter delight. </p><p>They ate the last few bites of the pie in silence, all of their five senses relishing in every single intake of that spectacular meal. The soup afterwards was mildly disappointing, tasting more like water than anything else, and they shared a couple of crackers as dessert of some sort, careful to leave some for later hungry days.</p><p>The curly haired man watched in rapture as Axl licked his fingers clean with delight, catching every remaining scent and taste of food left . In a swift movement he grabbed the slender wrist, sensually wrapping his own tongue around the redhead’s fingers, never breaking their gaze for a second. Axl moaned both at the wonderful sight and sweet sensation, then swiftly removed his hand from his lover’s mouth before unexpectedly lowering his mouth to the other one’s for a quick, tender kiss.</p><p>Slash didn’t waste a single second and locked his fingers in the red strands, gently pulling the other man closer, his tongue licking at the other man’s lower lip. Axl chuckled, but all too willingly parted his lips with a delighted whimper as his lover deepened the kiss.</p><p>The redhead was practically sitting on the other man’s lap when their lips parted. His cheeks had a nice pink glow, his slightly swollen lips stretched in a little smile. He placed a quick kiss on the corner of his lover’s lips, then reached over to grab his notebook again; however he didn’t move away, still pressed up against the dark haired man’s chest.</p><p>“Ax? Can I ask you something?” Slash said nervously playing with the hem of the other man’s shirt. The other man nodded briefly, his eyes already scanning the scribbled words. The guitarist swiftly grabbed the notebook from his hand, earning himself an annoyed, disapproving look, but at least he now had the other man’s complete attention on him.</p><p>“I’ll ask you one last time” he said carefully, taking a deep breath before going on. “Will you please come with me tonight to meet my parents?”</p><p>“No” Axl replied curtly, rolling his eyes at him. “Now can I have my notebook back? I was working on some lyrics in there!” he exclaimed, looking truly pissed off when Slash only held his precious possession out of his reach.</p><p>“Not before you tell me why” the curly haired man said in a calm unyielding voice. Well, as calm as possible with the seething redhead glaring daggers at him. The other man considered him in silence for a moment, fighting the urgent need to retrieve his notebook by force; yet there was something strange in his partner’s eyes that made him actually consider answering the question.</p><p>“I don’t feel like I’m ready for this” Axl answered in a surprisingly soft voice, looking away from the other man’s gaze, his fingers absent mindedly picking at a stained spot on the old couch.</p><p>“At least you’re being honest about it” Slash replied with a sigh, raking a hand through his curls. The other man looked up at him again, carefully studying his face for a moment, piercing green eyes trying to read his thoughts.</p><p>“Look, I just really want to make it in the music business, but that will never happen unless I work hard on writing some decent songs. That’s all I can focus on right now. I’m not saying that I don’t want to meet your family, but for now it’s not on my top priority list. I’ve been working on some new stuff last night with Izzy, I really just want to get back to it.” The redhead bit down on his lower lip, looking like he wanted to say something more, but shook his head and looked away.   </p><p>“I want to make it big too, same as you” Slash replied tensely. “Don’t make it sound like you and Izzy are the only two who are working hard on it, because we all are.”</p><p>Once more Slash was reminded of those documentaries about snakes he loved so much; these small, very lethal snakes ready for the kill had a very similar look to the one Axl had on his face in that very moment.</p><p>“That’s funny” he said with a humorless chuckle, “because last time I checked me and Izzy were the only ones who bothered to spend hours trying to write some ass kicking music while you and Steve were busy spending what little money we have on getting shit faced drunk!” the redhead yelled, getting to his feet to stare down at the other man, his eyes narrowed with renewed anger.</p><p>“Well, if only you were as involved in our relationship than in your precious songs maybe we would actually make some progress as a real couple!”</p><p>Slash hadn’t meant to shout, but damn it felt so good to let some tension out. That was the last straw. Slash rose from his seat, deliberately avoiding his boyfriend’s stare. He had heard enough, and seen enough as well. The slight change in Axl’s stance, added to the way his eyes narrowed told him as much as he needed to know. If this had been a comic album instead of real life he would have been able to see the smoke coming out of his partner’s ears. He knew only too well what was coming, but didn’t have the patience to stay and deal with it this time.</p><p>“You know what? I’ll go and spend some time with my family as I had planned, only you won’t be there. But then that’s your loss, I couldn’t give a shit about it.”<br/>
Slash grabbed his jacket and car keys, remembering at the last minute where he had hidden the paper on which Duff had scribbled down his address. He expected the last thing to reach his ears as he walked down to his car to be the sound of smashed furniture, however all he could hear was a strangely deafening silence.</p>
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<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>A big thank you again to everyone who took the time to read and review the last chapter! I hope I didn't disappoint anyone with the direction I'm taking with this story, but there's surely going to be a couple more parts to it. I originally planned to include the family dinner in this chapter but it would have been way too long, so look forward to the next one and for this time to a long, interesting drive with Duff and Slash! Comments and kuddos are welcome as always!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The evening was getting chillier by the minute, the rain now dropping more softly on the car’s windshield. What a lovely weather to be out driving, Slash thought sarcastically with a sigh, taking another drag of his cigarette. He had been sitting in the driver’s seat for a while now, smoking in silence, trying to gather his thoughts. His earlier conversation with Axl kept replaying in his head over and over again, slowly driving him insane. </p><p>The other man’s complete dedication to achieving his dream in the music business caused him to feel an equal amount of both admiration and frustration. How could someone write such heartfelt emotional lyrics, yet fail at communicating with his partner about his feelings, the curly haired man wondered. Alright, so Axl wasn’t ready to meet his parents, that much he understood. But what exactly did the redhead want from their relationship ? How did he imagine their future together? Would he even want for them to still be a couple when they finally started to make it big? Wouldn’t that risk jeopardizing their career?</p><p>He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray with another frustrated sigh. So many unanswered questions, but he was surprised to find out that he barely felt any anger or resentment at all, only a bone deep sadness. A part of him wanted nothing more than to simply go back and try to make things right, but would Axl be willing to listen? Hell he didn’t even trust his own voice right now, what if he only made things worse? Wouldn’t  it be safer to wait until the next day to try and reach out to the other man? Whatever he decided, the redhead would certainly not make the first step, he mused silently, picking at a hole in his unwashed torn jeans. He hadn’t even changed into something more decent, how wonderful.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, he finally turned the key in the ignition again, bringing the car back to life. Thankfully he had stopped a couple of blocks away from where he was supposed to pick Duff up. He still felt equally confused about so many things, but those few minutes on his own had helped him regain his composure somewhat. He slowly drove off, swallowing the lump in his throat. It wouldn’t be easy, but there was only one thing to do. His mother would skin him alive, but whatever. She would come around eventually. And Duff, he didn’t doubt for one second that Duff would understand.</p><p>This part of town wasn’t unfamiliar to him, yet he hadn’t really expected Duff to ask to meet him in such a shabby place. Not that his own little one room apartment was any better, but then some people were luckier, like Stevie who had hooked up with a stripper all too willing to share her big, nice place with her. Obviously Duff wasn’t one of those lucky people.</p><p>The tall blonde was waiting on the corner of the street, sitting on his guitar case casually smoking as he looked blankly in the distance. His eyes lit up at the sound of the car approaching and he swiftly leapt to his feet, reaching for something behind him as Slash parked on the side of the street. Unlike the curly haired man he had actually gone out of his way to dress up in his own typical punk Duff style. He was wearing black leather pants along with a CBGB black t-shirt, complete with leather jacket and his trademark padlock necklace, his bleach blonde hair nicely teased up.</p><p>“I was beginning to worry that you had forgotten all about me” Duff said cheerfully, approaching him with a big bouquet of roses in his arms. The guitarist stopped dead in his tracks, forgetting to breathe for a second, staring at the other man with big, slightly frightened eyes.</p><p>“What the fuck, man? We’re not actually dating, remember?”  he said with a nervous chuckle.</p><p>“Of course not” Duff replied with a hearty laugh. “This isn’t for you, you know; I just thought it was good manners to not show up at your parent’s with empty arms, so I picked these up for your mom. She likes flowers, right?”</p><p>“Yeah, she does” Slash answered, feeling relief flooding his veins, inwardly cursing himself for believing that Duff of all people would actually try to flirt with him in such an old fashioned way.</p><p>“Look I wanted to tell you something” the curly haired man continued his cheeks slightly pink in embarrassment for his earlier reaction. “I really appreciate the fact that you’d go out of you way to help me out with something this personal, I really do, but I just… I can’t…” Great, now he was stammering like an idiot, unable to find the right words. Duff stared at him, slightly surprised, before realization suddenly showed on his face.</p><p>“Don’t bother, I totally get it. We’re going as friends, no inappropriate touching. It’s no problem, really, that’s what we agreed on, right?” the blonde man said with a big reassuring grin on his face, picking up his guitar case. Slash stood rooted to the spot, unsure of what to say.</p><p>Duff stared at him expectantly, raising his eyebrows questioningly.</p><p>“Is there a problem?” the blonde asked worriedly.</p><p>“I… no, it’s fine, we’d better get going then” Slash decided suddenly. That nagging feeling in his gut was still there, but what were the chances of going back to talk to Axl now? He’d probably refuse to even open the door anyway, maybe it was better to give him some time to cool off, and go with Duff as friends, he could definitely do that. He grabbed the other man’s guitar case and loaded it into the back seat with his own. It had been Duff’s idea to bring their instruments along since they both played guitar; offering a quick jam would be a pleasant break in the flow of questions they were sure to be facing.</p><p>“That’s a nice car you’ve got there” the tall blonde man commented as he climbed into the passenger seat, narrowly avoiding hitting his head. “A bit small perhaps, but nice.”</p><p>“It’s not actually mine, a friend of mine lets me borrow it sometimes” Slash replied lighting yet another cigarette, offering one as well to the other man as they prepared to drive off. </p><p>***</p><p>“Never been much of a talkative person, right?” Duff said suddenly after a few moments of driving in silence, slightly startling the curly haired man.</p><p>“I can be, trust me, right now I’m a little nervous, not to mention having the leftovers of a hangover the size of fucking Indiana.” The blonde chuckled at that.</p><p>“Why Indiana of all places?” he asked curiously.</p><p>“No reason, Axl just happens to be from there. My boyfriend” he added, blushing slightly.</p><p>“Of course, your boyfriend” Duff said pensively, looking straight ahead at the road for a while. “Do you mind if I ask what the deal is with him?”</p><p>Slash thought about it for a while, wondering what the right answer would be, if there was any. Various options floated through his mind, from ‘nothing, he’s just being his stubborn self’ to ’he can be incredibly insecure sometimes, and not always feeling up to interacting with people’.  Then there was also ‘he’s too focused on his music and doesn’t understand the need for family time’ but that would have been a little harsh. He even considered ‘he doesn’t think himself to be worthy’. </p><p>That last sentence brought an icy, incredibly sad feeling to his heart, because he knew for sure that this was exactly what the redhead thought, because that was exactly what his own family had always thought of him, and Slash would be damned if he didn’t almost turn the car around right there on the spot, dash back to his lover, gather him in a rib-shattering hug and tell him how wrong they had been… and  would probably end up with a punch in the face and a long list of carefully chosen insults about how he was acting like a crazy sappy fucker, preferably screamed right into his face.</p><p>The thought made him chuckle because he could see the scene very clearly in his head; this would be so typically like Axl. Not that he had ever hit him, and he doubt he ever would, unless a deeply critical situation called for it, like the one he was currently stuck in. Shaking his head, he stubbed out the remnant of his cigarette in the ashtray, a silly smirk still plastered to his face. It was then that he realized that Duff was still staring at him, expecting an answer.</p><p>“There must be a sketchbook over there somewhere” the guitarist said, gesturing wildly with his right hand at the mess that was his borrowed car, its real owner being no more tidy than the man he occasionally leant it to. “Take a look at it, it’ll give you an idea.” The blonde raised his eyebrows in surprised confusion, but obediently bent down to scan the pile of junk for the mentioned item. It took him a couple of minutes until he finally located a sketchbook sporting a well-worn faux leather brown cover.</p><p>He flipped through the first few pages with interest, smirking at the various drawings of the woman who had since then become Slash’s mascot, immortalized on his tattooed shoulder, in various poses under different band names, amongst other band logos and designs. A recent recurrent one seemed to involve two pistols entwined with roses, adorned with the inscription ‘Guns N Roses’ in fancy letters. That would be a cool name for a band, Duff thought, smiling to himself. He was about to ask the other man what exactly he was supposed to make of this, other than Slash was a talented and creative artist, which he had already known, when he stumbled upon sketches of a drastically different type.</p><p>They all showed the same man, young, fairly handsome with high cheekbones and soft, intelligent looking eyes. Many of the drawings showed him in pretty much the same position, slightly hunched over a similar notebook, obviously either drawing or writing something in it, his brows furrowed in concentration when his face wasn’t completely hidden by a cascade of long silken hair.</p><p>Then there were some colored drawings, close ups of that gorgeous face, and Duff’s jaw almost hit the floor at the vibrant colors.</p><p>“Nice shade of red hair” the blonde commented with a chuckled. “Dyed, I assume? And do his eyes really have this light blue green color?” he asked incredously.</p><p>“It’s all natural” Slash answered, lightly amused at the other man’s reaction. “Although it’s a real bitch to get just the right shade, you wouldn’t believe the amount of hours that went into that; his hair never looks the same depending on the light, and it’s the same with his eyes, as changing as the sea” he added, blushing lightly at his last, slightly sappy words.</p><p>“This one’s really breath taking” Duff declared in a clearly amazed voice, shifting his grip on the sketchbook so that the guitarist could have a quick look at the drawing he was talking about. Slash felt pride welling in his chest at the sight, it was one of his favorites, another close up of Axl’s face, his chin resting in his hand, lips softly stretched in a lazy smile, a mischievous, yet undeniably tender gaze in his eyes. Although it was a black and white pencil sketch it felt more realistic than even a photograph. All around the drawing ran what Duff first thought to be a thin chain, but was actually one single three letter name repeated dozens of times. Next to the name chain, in another handwriting boldly stood the words ‘wtf? Were you drunk?’    </p><p>“Wow, if that’s not love then I don’t know what is” Duff said chuckling quietly, making the other man’s face turn a nice shade of crimson. The bass player turned a few more pages then stopped suddenly, his breath catching in his throat; now it was his turn to look as red as a tomato. </p><p>“Well, those are definitely… interesting” he said with a nervous laugh.</p><p>“What? What are you… oh no wait don’t!” Slash exclaimed suddenly, realization mixed with shame hitting him square in the face. </p><p>Shit, how could he have completely forgotten about those not so innocent sketches of his lover. There were a few of Axl in his birthday suit, some more revealing than others, a couple of those stamped with the inscription ‘dirty pervert’ or other variations of those words in the redhead’s neat handwriting. Duff choked when his eyes met that one drawing that was a very detailed and close up of Axl’s attributes, furiously crossed out by their owner with big bold letters across it reading ‘THIS IS PRIVATE YOU FUCKER’. </p><p>The bass player promptly shut the sketchbook and tossed it under his seat, clearing his throat while looking decidedly out of the window.</p><p>“I’m sorry you had to see that” Slash whispered after a while, his own cheeks still burning in embarrassment. </p><p>“It’s alright, I’ll survive” the blonde man answered, trying to get some of his usual cool back in his voice. “I get it though, it’s clear as daylight how much you love him. I can’t blame you, he’s really beautiful, and I mean, like everywhere” he said putting extra emphasis on the last word, making the other man sputter and blush even more.</p><p>“Shut up” he managed to respond weakly, hiding his face behind his hair, his eyes focusing intently on the road as his passenger laughed lightly.</p><p>“So, now that I know what he looks like, what does that tell me about your relationship problems? Because obviously there has to be one, or I wouldn’t be here.” The blonde knew he was probably pushing into things that were none of his business, but he was intrigued now. Someone who spent so much time drawing his boyfriend could only be hopelessly, shamelessly in love with him. And the redhead’s rare, but always playful annotations were proof enough that there was an undeniably great chemistry between them. So what could possibly have gone wrong?</p><p>“He said that he’s not ready” the guitarist answered slowly, carefully trying to decide how much he could tell his friend. “But the truth is, family for him doesn’t exactly equal good memories, so he’s a bit wary.”</p><p>“I think I understand” Duff replied with a sigh. “I’m not going to ask for any details because whatever his childhood was like is none of my business, but he’s probably so traumatized that he can’t understand that family members can be loving and understanding.”</p><p>“How did you just guess all that?” Slash all but gaped at him, dumbfounded.</p><p>“I’m just good at reading between the lines” Duff answered with a shrug. “Also I used to date a girl who had a tough family background. It was back in Seattle. She was really sweet, I loved her like mad, but sometimes she freaked out over the weirdest things, like if I hugged her from behind when she wasn’t expecting it.”</p><p>“Yeah Axl does that too” Slash replied in a whisper. “We’ve worked a long way over all that, but it still happens sometimes, not that I can blame him though. It’s part of who he is, and it will never completely go away. But sometimes it’s not always easy to accept, you know. It gets tiring after a while. I sure hope I never accidentally meet his parents, because as much as I’m not one to start fights, I think what I’d do to them would get me straight to jail” he added with a humorless chuckle.</p><p>“Yeah, I used to feel the same about my ex-girlfriend’s parents. Kathy, she was named. I still think about her sometimes, wonder what became of her” Duff sighed, reaching in his pockets for another cigarette. “Want one too?” he asked the other man who only nodded. “I mean, we both have divorced parents, and I haven’t talked to my dad in years, but I’d say we had almost perfect childhoods compared to people like Kathy or Axl. We had our ups and downs, but we were loved.”</p><p>“All you need is love” Slash suddenly sang, totally randomly, half laughing. He had no idea where that suddenly came from, but having Duff along with him brought back memories of friendship, lots of laughs and trust, nights playing random covers for a scarce crowd of half-drunk people in crowded venues in shitty places. He suddenly decided that he didn’t want to be swallowed in an emptiness of melancholy.</p><p>“All you need is love, love, love is what you need” Duff joined him, chuckling too, remembering that one drunken night they had shared, somehow ending up singing that very song together. The rest of the memory was cloudy for obvious, alcohol related reasons. He most definitely not remembered one or both of them ending up in a strip club in women’s clothes because friends just didn’t mention that kind of thing.</p><p>“See, old John Lennon had it right all along!” True, the joke was cheap, but it had effectively brought them both out of their melancholy.  </p><p>“Speaking of music, you mentioned being in a band needing a decent bass player. Care to tell me more?”</p><p>And there it was, their old friendship and chemistry intact. Slash inwardly breathed a sigh of relief and promptly began to tell the blonde all about his wonder of a band that needed just a little extra something to really be special. The more they talked the more the guitarist was convinced that Duff was the missing piece in their puzzle. True, he might not be the best bass player in the world, but he was good, and his friendly, sometimes goofy but always dedicated attitude would be a welcome bonus to their band.</p><p>“Sounds like my type of band” Duff said after a lengthy conversation. They had been so caught up in their discussion that neither of them had noticed the number of miles they had driven, bringing them dangerously close to their destination. The sky outside was now pitch black, barely a star shining amongst the rainy clouds.</p><p>“You can write songs too, if I remember correctly” Slash asked absent mindedly, the slowly familiar turns he was now taking bringing back his nervousness.</p><p>“I come up with good riffs sometimes, yeah. Rhythm parts I can write easily as well” Duff answered, showing off a little, but hey, if it could land him a place in a good band then why not. “Writing lyrics is not my strongest point though” he added in entire honesty.</p><p>“That’s all right” the guitarist shrugged. “Axl and Izzy are good enough at it that none of us need to bother about that.”<br/>
The blonde man jerked happily at the familiar name, staring at the curly haired man.</p><p>“Izzy? As in Izzy Stradlin? He’s in your band too?” he asked incredously.  </p><p>“Yeah, he is” Slash answered with a chuckle. “And it’s a damn good thing we have him, I tell you. Do you know him?” now it was his turn to be intrigued.</p><p>“Of course I do, everyone who’s involved in the LA music scene has at least heard of him” the blonde replied, laughing lightly. “I worked with him briefly, the man’s fucking brilliant. Speaking of him, you know what’s funny? I actually ran into him earlier today, when I was getting the flowers for your mom! I told him how I had met you again the night before, but he didn’t mention that he knew you. But then we only talked for like two minutes, and it’s Izzy; the guy’s always in a hurry, always has places to be.” </p><p>“That he does” Slash answered tensely. How small their musical world was indeed, he thought briefly, staring at the house in front of which he had just parked his house. It was as welcoming as ever, its windows shining with golden light, laughter erupting from the thin walls, and yet it had never looked as frightening as in this moment. Slash took a deep breath, stubbed out his cigarette and asked his passenger in a falsely assured voice:</p><p>“Well, we’re here. Are you ready?”</p><p>“As ready as I can be” came Duff’s answer. The guitarist closed his eyes, wishing for someone else with sunset colored hair to sit next to him right now. </p><p>His reaction would have been so different, anxious maybe, yet Axl had that strange ability to always find the right words to comfort him when he really needed it, along with a few rare touches, probably a hand on his thigh, the dark haired man thought silently. He could almost see the hazel eyes shining bright green next to him, only this wasn’t him, this wasn’t Axl, and this was so, so wrong. But there was no backing down now, and the dark haired man was determined to do his best for his parents’ sake, and for Duff’s friendship to him.  But he would be damned if he didn’t find a way to fix everything up with the man he had chosen, he decided before clenching his jaw and slowly getting out of his car. This evening was definitely going to be long, he thought with a sigh.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>“Hello, Mrs Hudson” the blonde man replied in his warmest, most polite tone, “I’m Duff, and I’m very happy to meet you as well” he added coupled with one of his best genuine smiles. The dark skinned woman’s eyebrows instantly furrowed in a confused frown.</p>
<p>“Duff? I thought you said his name was Axl?” she asked with a pointed look at her son.</p>
<p>Oh great, Slash thought inwardly, we haven’t even laid a foot inside the house and we’ve already screwed things up.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here is finally the much expected dinner scene. As fun as it was to write I'm a little nervous, I hope no one will be disappointed! Thank you again for the comments on the previous chapters, it really means a lot to me to see my work appreciated. Look forward to a long chapter again, and hopefully more to come soon! Feedback is always welcome!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Slash didn’t remember grabbing Duff’s hand, probably as much to gather some courage as for the sake of playing the part of a real couple, but he was surely glad for it when the door creaked open, revealing his mother’s happy smile and squeal of joy.</p>
<p>Duff smirked to himself as Slash’s mom took his son in a tight hug, remembering his own mother’s affections. As the youngest child of eight he was used to that kind of display, and never failed to find it endearing. He waited patiently for Slash to reunite with his mother, definitely not sniggering at the ‘you look way too skinny for your own good, have you been eating properly’ comments he himself was way too used to. And then all too quickly Ola Hudson had turned her attention to him.</p>
<p>“And here he is, finally! You can’t believe how long I’ve been hoping to meet you!” she exclaimed in such a happy voice, Duff’s heart couldn’t help but melt as she reached to hug him before deciding to grip his arms instead in a warmly welcome.</p>
<p>“Hello, Mrs Hudson” the blonde man replied in his warmest, most polite tone, “I’m Duff, and I’m very happy to meet you as well” he added coupled with one of his best genuine smiles. The dark skinned woman’s eyebrows instantly furrowed in a confused frown.</p>
<p>“Duff? I thought you said his name was Axl?” she asked with a pointed look at her son.</p>
<p>Oh great, Slash thought inwardly, we haven’t even laid a foot inside the house and we’ve already screwed things up. He gaped at his mother, frantically searching for a way to make something up but luckily Duff was faster.</p>
<p>“Yeah, it is” he said quickly with a convincing nod. “But everyone just calls me Duff, for some reason, It’s been my nickname as long as I can remeber” he shrugged matter-of-factly. “Just like everyone calls him Slash” he added, pulling his arm around the guitarist’s shoulder. “I guess two guys with such weird nicknames were meant to be together, right? </p>
<p>Slash granted him a relieved, beaming smile, mistaken by the former’s mother as a look of unashamed love.</p>
<p>“Aw, you two are such a cute couple! Why don’t you come in?”</p>
<p>Duff seemed to be enjoying himself, smiling first at his mother, rapidly covering the mistake of introducing himself by his usual nickname before making her blush with his gift of roses. Even his grandma instantly pulled Duff in a tight hug, marveling at how ‘tall and handsome’ he was, and how her grandson had surely inherited her taste in beautiful men. Even his dad, a quiet introverted man not unlike Slash himself who had looked slightly wary at first, seemed to take a quick liking to his substitute of a boyfriend.</p>
<p>It was quite unnerving, really. As happy as he was to see his family’s enthusiasm to Duff’s good natured personality, he also couldn’t help but feel incredibly frustrated, because Duff was simply acting all too perfect, and the more he thought about it, the more he was persuaded that Axl would have received a much colder appreciation, which internally left him seething  with frustration.    </p>
<p>As incredible as it might sound Slash found himself feeling more like an intruder in his own family as time went by. Duff seemed way too at ease, but then he had been the one deciding to bring him along, so who was he to judge? Duff was only being a good friend, and so far had played his part to perfection. And yet, the guitar player couldn’t feel completely at ease himself, for obvious reasons.</p>
<p>And here they were, laughing again at one of Duff’s stupid jokes, Slash thought rolling his eyes to himself discreetly. Why did it have to be so easy? Why was he so sure that the exact same dinner with Axl would have been a lot more tense, especially since the redhead had told him more than once just so? It was just so unfair, he thought furiously, slamming his fork in his leftover meat with more force than was necessary.</p>
<p>And Ash, he thought stealing a glance at his younger brother, how he was surprised at the change in the younger man’s attitude. He had always looked up to his big brother, who had been a role model of sorts for him during his whole childhood. Slash was everything he had always wanted to be, cool, laid back, he was really good at playing guitar and dated a lot of hot girls, who could have wished for a better brother?</p>
<p>And then things had turned slightly sour when he had first heard that his so perfect brother was in love with another man. It had rattled his beliefs, had shaken the way he had looked up to his older sibling. It wasn’t like he had hated him for coming out as bi, he simply didn’t understand it. It had taken him a while to accept it, grudgingly at first, and he had finally declared that Slash’s love life was none of his business, and that he wanted nothing to do with his boyfriend, refusing even a simple quick meeting somewhere in town, not unlike Axl himself, the guitar player mused with a smile.</p>
<p>And now here he was, his rebellious little brother, smiling at Duff and looking at him in awe, surprised, even almost disappointed that his sibling’s boyfriend turned out to be such a cool person. Hell, Duff was used to a house full of kids, he had very little trouble getting along with a slightly reluctant Ash, quickly finding common grounds with him as well as giving him some time to observe him and change his mind while the blonde man striked up conversation with the rest of the family instead.  </p>
<p>“And how long have you two been together now?” Slash’s mother asked, honestly curious. </p>
<p>“A couple of months” the guitar player answered quickly, not giving Duff a second to reply.<br/>
Ola looked as if she was about to ask something more when a sudden frantic bark at the front door distracted them. The intruder, probably a dog Duff thought, was now furiously clawing at the wooden door.  </p>
<p>“It’s our neighbor’s dog, Lemon he is called” Ola Sr explained with a smile.</p>
<p>“He’s always jumping off his owner’s fence and somehow ends up here every time” her daughter added as Ash jumped from his seat, running to open the door to an over excited golden retriever, happily wagging his tail while lapping hungrily at Slash’s younger brother’s fingers. </p>
<p>“Well hello there little fella” Duff cooed at the dog who had made his way straight to the tall blonde stranger, curiously sniffing him. “Aren’t you a cute little doggie” Duff went on, gently stroking the dog’s head, then his chin, ending up cuddling to all of Lemon’s fluffy body.</p>
<p>“Looks like I’m not the only dog person here” Ash said with a proud smirk addressed to his brother.</p>
<p>“Lemon’s a really nice dog” Slash’s mom said suddenly. “So, it looks like you are a dog person too? Albion, please take him back home, would you?” she asked silently. The younger man immediately called the dog’s name, happily leading him out while pretending to play with him.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah” Duff answered right away. “I love dogs, especially the big ones. I’ve got some myself, two yellow labs, Chester and Chloe they’re named, and they’re the most playful dogs I’ve ever met.”  </p>
<p>“So I imagine your small apartment must be quite crowded with two big dogs like that” Ola Sr said with a chuckle.</p>
<p>“Oh, no it’s not” Duff answered right away, once again blowing Slash’s mind away with his ability to come up with fast, believable lies.  “They’ve been staying at a friends’, since we’ve moved in together” the blonde replied easily. “We tried keeping them in our place, but it just didn’t work out.”</p>
<p>“Of course not” Slash’s mother said with an amused giggle. “My eldest son was never much of a dog person.”</p>
<p>“Maybe you wouldn’t be either if Dad’s friend’s poodle had bitten your ankle when you were eight years old” the guitarist said slightly bitterly. He didn’t really mean it, because it had been so many years since, but hey, that one had hurt. </p>
<p>“Speaking of dogs, that reminds me” Slash’s grandmother suddenly quipped in, “when my eldest grandson here turned ten. I asked him, what kind of pet would you like to have, and do you know what he answered me?” She asked, waiting for a moment, but her audience either had heard that story a hundred times before, or in Duff’s unique case, had no idea what was to come.</p>
<p>“He looked so seriously at me with his big pleading brown eyes of his, and what did he say? ‘Grandma, can you please buy me a snake?’”</p>
<p>And Ola Snr erupted in a fit of hysteric giggles, causing poor Slash to turn his flaming face away, secretly wishing the ground would suddenly swallow him whole. Seriously, what was it with people not understanding his passion with snakes? Sure, most people weren’t snake people, but then he wasn’t a dog person, so what was different, really?  </p>
<p>“That’s funny” Duff declared with a whole hearted laugh. “I’d have never thought of you as a snake person” he said laughing to the memory of a young Slash wishing for a snake of all pets. A deadly silence met his words, making him almost choke on his words, all the Hudson’s family members staring at him with wide eyes. Now what had he done wrong, he wondered silently?</p>
<p>“Well I’d have thought that the snake in her tank near our bed would have given you an idea to this” Slash declared with a playful shove to the other man’s shoulder, accompanying it with a fake laugh.  “Seriously, he never lets an opportunity pass by to tease me about my love for snakes. It gets irritating after a while.”</p>
<p>“Well maybe you would too if you happened to trip over a giant snake all the time” Duff replied, picking up on the other man’s playful comment, silently thanking him with a fondly stare.</p>
<p>“Oh come on, I don’t let her out that often” Slash retorted with a faked annoyed pout, inwardly praising Duff for his ability to improvise so easily. Everyone laughed at their bickering, yet it seemed for a fleeting moment to Slash that his mother had a strange look in her eyes, but it was gone all too soon and she announced that it was time for dessert.</p>
<p>Shit, that had been a close call, the guitarist thought silently. He couldn’t believe that not even once had he talked to Duff about his love for reptiles; it was such a big part of his life, how could he have never mentioned it? But then he had mainly hung out with Duff either for jamming or partying, so the chances were they had been too engrossed in their guitars or too drunk to discuss that particular subject.</p>
<p>“Can’t we get a song or two before dessert? I think we would all like to hear this young man sing, we’ve heard so much praise about his voice, I’m really curious to hear it” Ola Sr asked with a warm smile to Duff.</p>
<p>“Sure, why not” the blonde answered lightly. He totally hadn’t expected that, he had thought they would likely only be asked to play a couple of instrumental tunes, but then he remembered their earlier conversation in the car with Slash telling him about his band. Axl was their singer, so of course pretending to be him meant he now had to sing. Not that he really minded, his voice wasn’t half bad, surely he would be able to pull this off without too much trouble.<br/>
“Any special song you would like to hear?” he asked while Slash went to fetch the guitars in the car.</p>
<p>“How about something by Frank Sinatra? I really like his songs” the older woman replied immediately.</p>
<p>“Good choice” the blonde man approved with a nod. “I know just the perfect song for this beautiful evening.” True, Sinatra didn’t exactly fall into his more punk rock musical preferences, but it would have to do; let it not be said that he would deny such a nice old lady’s request.</p>
<p>They pulled out two chairs and slowly set up, tuning their acoustic guitars and strumming a few random chords as a quick warm up. Slash looked up at the other man expectantly, waiting for him to take the lead. Duff flashed him a big grin, cleared his throat a little before plunging right into his chosen song with a soft, melodic voice.</p>
<p> “Stranger in the night, Exchanging glances wond'ring in the night”</p>
<p>Slash caught himself from rolling his eyes, remembering just in time that he was supposed to play the role. Great, now Duff was serenading him in front of his whole family, that had to be the cherry on the cake.<br/>
“What were the chances, we'd be sharing love, before the night was through” he sang along, faking his best tender gaze. God, this was so cheesy and embarrassing,  but also believable, the curly haired man thought, slipping a look at his grandma who was positively glowing with happiness..</p>
<p>“Strangers in the night<br/>
Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night<br/>
Up to the moment when we said our first hello little did we know<br/>
Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away”</p>
<p>Okay, so that was most certainly not his choice of song but he had to admit to himself that the blonde man was a decent singer, and a good guitarist too, playing chord after chord seemingly effortlessly.<br/>
And ever since that night<br/>
We've been together lovers at first sight<br/>
In love forever, It turned out so right<br/>
For strangers in the night<br/>
Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away<br/>
Ever since that night we've been together<br/>
Lovers at first sight, in love forever<br/>
It turned out so right<br/>
For strangers in the night ...<br/>
... for strangers in the night”</p>
<p>They concluded with what was supposed to be a look of love but ended up with both of them looking away with an embarrassed expression on their faces, earning applauses and “aws” and so forth from the Hudson Family. Duff’s blush was even deeper, and he fiddled with his guitar for a while, deciding what to do next as all the Hudson clan still had their eyes glued to him expectantly. </p>
<p>Then a sudden idea popped in his head, spreading a big grin on his face. This was way too tempting to ignore, he decided, feeling suddenly devious. His apparent success with his first song made him feel more confident, why not take advantage of it to make the other man squirm a bit? It wasn’t as if anyone would suspect anything, he decided  as he caught Slash’s eyes with a suddenly mischievous glance and started playing the first chords.</p>
<p>“You think we look pretty good together<br/>
You think my shoes are made of leather”<br/>
He started to sing, grinning teasingly at the curly haired man. Slash gaped at him, almost choking on his own breath. Of all the songs in the world he had to choose to play this particular one! </p>
<p>“But I'm a substitute for another guy<br/>
I look pretty tall but my heels are high<br/>
The simple things you see are all complicated<br/>
Look pretty young, but I'm just back dated, yeah”</p>
<p>The dark haired man was completely mortified. This was so not a good idea, Duff was really playing with fire here. He had rarely been more grateful for his mane of thick curls, letting them hang in front of his face to hide his cheeks burning with shame. He was so going to strangle that guy later, he decided while glaring daggers at him. Duff had him trapped, all he could do for now was grit his teeth and join along, singing background vocals on the stupid song trying to look as if there was nothing else in the world he would rather be doing.</p>
<p>“Substitute your lies for fact<br/>
I can see right through your plastic mac<br/>
I look all white, but my dad was black<br/>
My fine looking suit is really made out of sack”<br/>
He sang reluctantly, cringing at the lyrics while Duff seemed to be enjoying himself way too much, playfully winking at him before starting the second verse. He stubbornly kept his gaze fixed on the floor, half-heartedly playing the chords, wishing for the song to be over already.</p>
<p>“Substitute me for him<br/>
Substitute my coke for gin<br/>
Substitute you for my mom<br/>
At least I'll get my washing done”<br/>
Oh no, strangling him would be actually doing him a favor, the curly haired man thought with a sigh, seething with anger at the pleased grins Duff was sending him. He would definitely find a more painful way to kill him, that is if he himself didn’t die of embarrassment before the end of the song.</p>
<p>Thankfully the torture was soon over and he finally let out a sigh of relief, almost jumping up to pack his guitar before his idiot of a friend had any more sudden urges to sing random, potentially mortifying songs. Duff almost rolled his eyes at him but slowly stood up to pack his acoustic as well, beaming and smiling at the cheerful applauses and compliments from the small, pleased looking crowd. </p>
<p>“That was a very nice song for you to sing” Tony Hudson suddenly said, all smiles, almost startling the tall blonde man since he talked so little most of the time. “The Who were quite a popular band back in England when I was younger. I used to listen quite often to their songs when I was a teenager.”</p>
<p>“That I remember” Ola quipped in with a bemused smile. “Can you believe that I actually had to talk him out of naming our first son Roger?” she added with a pointed look at her ex-husband, who simply chuckled, shaking his head at the memory.</p>
<p>Duff laughed along with them, casting a quick glance in Slash’s direction. Man, did he look pissed off. And to think that he was usually the first to laugh at any stupid joke, but apparently his sense of humor had temporarily left him. For God’s sake it was just a joke, and it wasn’t as if anyone suspected anything anyway, he thought with a slightly exasperated sigh. He had played his role flawlessly all evening, surely he was allowed to have a bit of harmless fun at the other man’s expense, but he still made a mental note to apologize to his friend later.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Thankfully this masquerade was almost over, Slash thought to himself, nursing a glass of red wine. It wasn’t nearly strong enough, but it provided some relief. That, coupled with the lingering taste in his mouth of his grandmother’s fantastic apple pie helped take away some of his inner tension. He had been chatting with his dad, catching up on each other’s lives, and were now enjoying a peaceful silence, both lost in their own thoughts. </p>
<p>Duff was talking animatedly with Ash, about what he had absolutely no idea but it obviously required quite a bit of wild gesturing and lots of laughter. His mother and grandmother were currently sitting on the couch near the fireplace, talking rapidly in hushed whispers, looking like they were having an argument over something but were trying to keep it quiet.  </p>
<p>The guitar player sipped the last of his wine, setting the glass back on the table when his eyes were caught by the flowers Duff had given to his mother, proudly displayed on the dinner table in an ornate vase. Of course, of all the flowers in the world the tall blonde had had to choose roses. Bright, vibrant red roses, Slash observed with a sigh. </p>
<p>It was as if the world was determined to tease him mercilessly tonight, he mused as he glared at the offending sight. Duff couldn’t have known, of course, and his family thought nothing of it either thankfully, but that didn’t mean the curly haired man could stop his thoughts from drifting back to a very special person who shared his last name with those stupidly beautiful flowers, bringing a sharp pang of guilt to his chest. </p>
<p>He checked quickly that everyone was still engrossed in their current activities and promptly stood up, answering his father’s questioning look with the sudden need to use the bathroom. As soon as he was out of sight he sneaked in his mother’s bedroom, silently closing the door behind him before making a beeline for the telephone. He’d have to make it quick, but it had to be done, he just couldn’t wait any longer, he thought as he dialed the number with a shaking hand.</p>
<p>He waited anxiously for someone to pick up, barely daring to breathe, but it was useless, the beeping tone went on and on and nothing happened. Just his luck, he thought unhappily, he was probably not even home. He was about to hang up in defeat when he finally heard the light click of the call being picked up.</p>
<p>“Whoever this is, you’d better have an important reason to be calling at this time” a familiar deep baritone voice answered quietly at the other end of the line. Slash let out a sigh of relief, smiling lightly to himself at the annoyed tone of voice.</p>
<p>“Ax? It’s me, and don’t worry, I won’t waste too much of your precious time” he said softly. There was a long silence at the other end of the line, and he worried for a moment that the redhead would just hang up on him.</p>
<p>“Is your family this boring that you have to sneak out and call me?” he finally said in a slightly amused voice.</p>
<p>“This evening has been everything but boring, I promise you” the curly haired man replied, rolling his eyes before remembering that the other man couldn’t see it.</p>
<p>“So why did you feel the sudden need to call?” Axl said lazily.</p>
<p>“I just wanted to hear your voice” Slash answered quietly. “I miss you, baby. I wish you would be here with me right now.”<br/>
There was another short pause, and the dark haired man could almost feel the smile spreading on his lover’s lips.</p>
<p>“And what would you do to me if I were right next to you?” he asked in a teasingly seductive voice.</p>
<p>“Many things believe me” the guitarist answered with a light chuckle. “Look, I’m sorry but I have no time for this now. I need to tell you something. I should have done so way sooner, but I really can’t keep this to myself any longer. I hope you don’t hate me for this.”</p>
<p>He could hear Axl’s sharp intake of breath. He himself was having trouble keeping his voice calm, his breathing under control, but he had to do it, there was no backing out now.</p>
<p>“I’m listening” the other man said slowly, just as footsteps resonated in the corridor, resolutely coming in his direction. Shit, not now, he thought desperately, wishing he had turned off the light in the room; it was sure to give away his presence out from the dark corridor.</p>
<p>“I’m sorry, I gotta go” he whispered urgently, quickly putting down the receiver just as the door opened, revealing the sight of his mother and grandmother, both sporting a look on their faces that meant nothing but trouble.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“The fuck is wrong with him?” Axl exclaimed, staring in disbelief at the phone still in his hand. “First he says he has something important to tell me and then he hangs up on me?”</p>
<p>Izzy looked up from his position on the old couch, his hand frozen in mid air over his guitar as he took in the sight of his annoyed best friend. As the other man didn’t say anything more he simply shrugged and turned back to his acoustic, softly strumming the same few chords again. The two lovebirds could surely sort out their weird conversations without his help, he decided with a sigh.</p>
<p>But Axl was obviously upset as he slowly came to sit down beside him again, his brows furrowed in annoyance.</p>
<p>“He sounded all funny on the phone, I really wonder what his problem is. What could possibly be so urgent and important that he had to call me from his mother’s place?”</p>
<p>Sighing, Izzy laid the guitar aside; it was no good trying to go back to the song they’d been working on if his friend’s mind was elsewhere. He was about to brush it off, reminding Axl that he’d have all the time in the world to sort out whatever it was with his boyfriend when he came back when his grey eyes suddenly widened in shock, his mouth gaping open in sudden realization. The redhead noticed his look immediately, his frown deepening in concern.</p>
<p>“Izzy? Are you going to act all funny with me for no apparent reason too now?” </p>
<p>“Actually I was wondering if lover boy hadn’t suddenly decided to spill the beans” the guitarist replied in his usual slow, dreamy drawl.</p>
<p>“What are you on now? Are you high?” Axl questioned with a worried look. Of all the times for his childhood friend to talk in riddles this was definitely not the right one.</p>
<p>“You know, I ran into someone this morning when I was out into town, an old friend of mine, so to speak. He plays guitar and drums too, we crossed paths a couple of times, even jammed together once or twice. Duff Mckagan, he is named. Ever heard of him?” he asked pointedly, carefully watching his friend’s reaction.</p>
<p>“Of course not, I’d remember such an odd name” Axl scoffed. “Can you please get to the point or do I have to fucking beg you?”</p>
<p>“Actually you just did” Izzy replied quietly. “Anyway, he went straight to me, started to babble on happily about his precious little life, like most people tend to do, unfortunately” he went on with a dramatic sigh. </p>
<p>Axl glared at him, resisting the urge to slap him. Why should he give a fuck about Izzy running into some random guy in town? The guitar player slowly turned his piercing gaze back to him, as if remembering suddenly that he wasn’t alone in the room.</p>
<p>“He had a most interesting funny little story to tell me, you know” the raven haired man continued, his lips slowly stretching into a devious smirk, leaning closer to the redhead’s face, looking intently at him. “Care to guess where he is currently spending his evening?”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here's some expected drama and angst, but then what else is to be expected after someone's bad choices? Anyway this was painful to write, and I'm looking forward to more humor in the next chapters, if anyone is still interested to read. This time I will really make more of an effort to answer to reviews, and I mean that! And as always feel free to review if you feel like it, whether you liked this part or not, constructive criticism is always welcome! And so are theories of what you think is to happen next if you have any!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Young man, I believe you have some explaining to do” Ola declared in a quiet, yet unyielding voice, raising her eyebrows at her son’s guilty expression. Beside her the older woman stared intently at her grandson, her arms firmly crossed over her chest.</p>
<p>“What is wrong with you?” the curly haired man’s mother said in a more gentle voice, worried at her son’s lack of answer, his face an expression of shame and pain. “You have been acting strange all evening, and now you’re sneaking off, and I find you hiding in there to make a phone call. Just who have you been calling?”</p>
<p>“Look at his face” Ola Sr said sadly. “You didn’t believe me, but it seems I was right after all. That’s why he acted so cold to that nice young man.”<br/>Slash frowned, wondering what exactly they were talking about. Did they catch up on something?</p>
<p>“Two people in love have a very particular way of acting towards each other, even if they’re not overly demonstrative it still shows, and I’m afraid I saw very little of that between you and Duff” she went on, sounding disappointed and sad. The guitarist braced himself for what was to come.</p>
<p>“You are seeing someone else!” his grandmother exclaimed accusingly. Slash’s head shot up in bewilderment, gaping at her in shock. “That’s who you were talking to right now! I knew something wasn’t right between you and Duff” she added with a sigh, shaking her head sadly.</p>
<p>“What… no! I’m not… shit, I should have known better” the guitarist sighed in frustration, sitting down on the bed while raking a hand through his curls, wondering how to get himself out of that situation.</p>
<p>“Explain” her mother said patiently, rubbing her hand in comforting circles on his back. “I can see that you’re unhappy, and I want to hear the truth, no matter how difficult it is for me to hear it.”</p>
<p>“Fine” Slash said, taking a deep breath before meeting his mother’s worried gaze. “The man I just called, it was Axl. The real one. Duff… is not my boyfriend. He’s just a friend who agreed to come with me so that I wouldn’t arrive alone again.”</p>
<p>By the time he had finished his attempt at explaining the many complicated reasons behind Axl’s refusal to meet his family, his mother was seething in anger while his grandmother looked on the verge of tears.</p>
<p>“So you lied, to all of us!” Ola exclaimed in disbelief. “You looked us all in the eye and lied all evening! I can’t believe you behaved like that, I’m so disappointed in you! Worse, you dragged Duff into this, who did nothing but try his best to get along with everyone, never once even thinking about letting you down! What will your father say about this? And what about your younger brother, have you even thought about him?”</p>
<p>“There’s only one thing left for you to do now” Ola Sr said suddenly, her voice barely above a broken whisper. “You have to sort out the mess you’ve dragged yourself into.”</p>
<p>“You’d better!” her daughter chimed in, standing up abruptly. “You’re not setting a foot in this house again until you’ve done the right thing. And I’ll be calling you regularly to check up on your progress, so don’t even think about waiting for things to sort themselves out, because they won’t. Whatever you decision will be, you now have to take one.” </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The apartment was eerily silent when Slash slowly turned the key in the keyhole, wondering if Axl had already gone to bed. That would be for the best, he thought to himself; it wasn’t as if things could get any uglier if he could avoid it until the next morning. He let out a surprised yelp when the door was yanked open, revealing Izzy’s stony face, glaring at him menacingly.</p>
<p>“Izzy, hey” he greeted him with a forced smile, swallowing a lump in his throat. “Didn’t know you were staying over tonight.”<br/>The other man didn’t reply, staring at him for a short moment before stepping aside to let him in without a single word. Now that was creepy, even by Izzy’s standards, Slash thought slightly alarmed.</p>
<p>Axl was sitting on the couch, his expression unreadable as he watched the curly haired man approach him with a strange, empty gaze. Something was definitely off, Slash observed, noticing immediately the overflowing ashtray on the small table and the redhead’s rigid body. The scariest thing was that look in his eyes, his usually very expressive bright green eyes looked dull and dead.</p>
<p>“I hope you had a good time tonight?” the singer asked in a strangely calm voice. The guitarist’s breath caught in his throat; all he could do was stand there, rooted to the spot, rendered speechless by the other man’s coldness. Izzy had walked back to sit next to his childhood friend, and there were now two piercing gazes boring into the curly haired man’s very soul, making him feel not unlike an hour or so ago when two equally angry people had cornered him at his mom’s house..</p>
<p>“You didn’t answer my question” Axl snarled menacingly, getting to his feet before quickly closing the distance between them, standing inches from the other man. “Did you spend a nice evening? Did your little bitch put on a good show? Did you fuck him afterwards to reward him?”<br/>The singer’s icy tone coupled with a clearly hurt and disgusted gaze caused Slash to flinch, shifting his eyes to the floor, wishing the ground would swallow him. </p>
<p>“Fucking look at me!” Axl snapped, starting to scream. “How could you call me to say how much you missed me when you were with your slut all this time?”</p>
<p>“He’s not my slut” Slash managed to say, fighting to keep his voice even. Axl’s eyes flashed dangerously and the guitarist’s eyes snapped shut, expecting a slap in the face. When it didn’t come he looked up to see the redhead still staring at him, eyes shining with unshed tears.</p>
<p>“Don’t you dare lie to him” Izzy’s dangerously low voice came from the couch where he was still sitting, carefully observing the two men in front of him. “I ran into Duff this morning, and he told me all about your little… arrangement.”</p>
<p>“Then you should know that he only came with me as a friend” Slash snapped at the raven haired man. “Yes, I asked him to come with me, and yes, it was a stupid thing to do. I tried to tell you earlier when I called” he pleaded desperately to the redhead, reaching for his hand but the singer only yanked it away. “Axl, look at me, damn it!” he yelled out in frustration. Surprisingly, Axl slowly turned his tear filled gaze towards him, his jaws clenched almost painfully, waiting for the other man to speak.</p>
<p>“I never, ever laid a single finger on Duff. There’s nothing between us but friendship. You know that I’m telling you the truth, don’t you?”<br/>Axl blinked a couple of times as if coming out of a deep nightmare, then gave an almost imperceptible nod.</p>
<p>“Don’t believe him” Izzy said from the background with an unimpressed snort.</p>
<p>“He’s not lying, Izzy” the redhead said sadly. “At least not about being only friends with that Duff guy.”</p>
<p>“I’m not lying about the rest either” Slash said bravely. If Axl wanted the truth, then he would get all of it. “You wouldn’t accompany me to the family dinner no matter how many times I asked, and I meant what I said earlier on the phone. I really did miss you, it all felt so wrong. I brought Duff for company, and it was a mistake not to have told you about it. I realized it too late, that’s why I called, I wanted you to know everything.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, so that’s why you hung up on me” Axl said with a dry chuckle. His jaw was still set, his eyes gleaming with hurt and humiliation, but the guitarist could feel something, a slight change in his posture. The singer seemed to be actually considering his words.</p>
<p>“I had to hang up because I was busted by my mom and grandma” Slash explained with a tired sigh. “And trust me, I’d rather be having this painful conversation with you twice more than having to deal with their coupled interrogation. I’m banned from my own mother’s house until further notice, if you must know.”<br/> The redhead’s lips slightly curled up at these words, it was a mean, mocking smile, but there was also some amusement in it. </p>
<p>“So basically you fucked up with everyone tonight” Axl said slowly shaking his head. “Serves you right.”<br/>Slash had no answer to that, because it was the simple, bare truth. He kept his eyes fixed on the floor, waiting for the other man to say something more, but he remained stubbornly silent.</p>
<p>Izzy slowly stood up from the couch with a deep sigh, stretching like a cat awakening from a pleasant nap.</p>
<p>“Well, did you hear everything you needed, or is there something else?” he said quietly, picking up a large travel bag from the floor, handing it to his friend. Axl still stared at the curly haired man, chewing on his lower lip as if debating about talking more, then shook his head and resolutely grabbed his bag and slung it over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“There is nothing else to say” he whispered in his deep, low rumble. “Let’s go.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Whoever invented such a shrill sound for ringing telephones clearly had never awoken to it with a hangover in all his life, the guitarist thought burying his head under the pillow with a groan. It was no use though; the blasted thing deliberately continued to ignore his attempts at going back to sleep.</p>
<p>“Ax, can you please go get it?” he asked weakly. No answer. It was then that his new reality hit him like a truck, half sobering him up in a matter of seconds. Axl was gone. The thought made his stomach hurt so bad that he barely had time to roll over to the side to throw up on the floor.</p>
<p>He laid there in a daze, feeling sick, silent tears miserably running down his face. It took him a moment to register the stupid phone still ringing. With a pained groan he half walked half dragged himself to the offending object, picking up with the sole intent to finally make it go quiet.</p>
<p>“So you’re still alive” came a lazy, but slightly relieved voice on the other side. “I haven’t heard of you for days, I was beginning to worry.” At least that last part sounded sincere, Slash noted.</p>
<p>“I’m alive, or so it seems. You can call off the searching parties” Slash answered wearily. Izzy chuckled lightly at his poor attempt at humor.</p>
<p>“I wanted you to know that we auditioned Duff, and he’s now officially our new bass player.”</p>
<p>“How nice of you to let me know” Slash answered bitterly. “I suppose you’ve found a new guitar player as well?”<br/>There was a moment of silence on the other side of the line.</p>
<p>“There is no replacement” Izzy then said carefully. “You’re still in the band.”<br/>The curly haired man gaped at his words, utterly gobsmacked.</p>
<p>“I thought Axl would want me out after what happened between us?” he asked incredously.</p>
<p>“Axl is smart enough to recognize your talent and realize that we need you to make it big. He also knows better than to let his private life get in the way of pursuing his dream” Izzy said slowly, as if explaining something complicated to a small child. “Besides searching for a new guitar player would take weeks, maybe months, if we even manage to find someone good enough for the job, and then he’d have to learn all of our songs which would waste even more of our time. So, yes, you’re still in the band.”</p>
<p>Slash let out a sigh of relief. At least he still had that job. And Duff was on board as well, which made him smile with pride and satisfaction. If anyone deserved that place, it was him. Even though this meant that he would find himself in a room with both Axl and Duff sooner than he would have liked, and that thought felt him with dread, but there would be time to worry about this later.</p>
<p>“Is Axl with you?” Slash asked tentatively.</p>
<p>“Yes, he is staying at my place for now” Izzy answered, confirming the other man’s suspicions. He took a deep breath before asking the question that had been torturing him since he had picked up Izzy’s call.</p>
<p>“Can I talk to him?”<br/>There was a brief silence and a short sigh that sounded suspiciously like a sneer.</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>“Izzy, please” Slash insisted, pinching the bridge of his nose, fighting a deep sigh of frustration.</p>
<p>“Slash” Izzy replied, sounding equally frustrated, “he doesn’t want to have anything to do with you right now.”</p>
<p>“At least tell me how he’s doing?” the curly haired man asked hopefully. He needed so badly to hear about the redheaded singer.</p>
<p>“Fucking brilliant” Izzy answered with a sarcastic chuckle. “He’s miserable, what did you expect?” he practically spat out. “It’s bad enough that he’ll have to see you at rehearsal, which is tomorrow evening by the way. I’d stay away from him if I were you” he added in a quiet, apparently calm voice, but Slash didn’t like the underlying menacing tone of the warning.</p>
<p>“What are you now, his guard dog?” Slash spat out at him. “I’ll have to talk to him sooner or later anyway, either about band stuff or private matters.”</p>
<p>“As you wish” Izzy sighed. “But you can’t say you haven’t been warned.”</p>
<p>“Izzy, why did you have to tell him?” Slash asked carefully. He wasn’t sure what kind of answer he was expecting, but the question had been nagging at him for way too long.</p>
<p>“The question is, why didn’t you?” the rhythm guitarist answered simply. “I happen to think that Axl is worth being honest to, unlike some other people. See you tomorrow then, and don’t be late.” </p>
<p>That had to be the most awkward conversation he had ever had with Izzy, Slash thought as he slowly hung up. He simply sat in silence for a while, sad and confused. He felt even more sick now than he had earlier. He let out a deep sigh, pushing some curls out of his face, surprised to feel some wetness on his hand. He hadn’t even realized that he had been crying.</p>
<p>After what felt like an eternity he finally gathered some strength and pushed himself up from the battered couch, fetching some towels to clean up the mess he had made earlier, kicking empty bottles and beer cans out of his way. His place was a mess, but he really didn’t feel like cleaning. He went over to the far end of the small room and fed his snake, then carefully lifted her out of her tank. He then grabbed a half empty Jack Daniels bottle from the kitchen and let himself fall back down on the couch, lazily petting the snake while watching her slowly slither over his body, taking regular small sips from the bottle.</p>
<p>It had always been comforting to him, watching the slow, undulating body drape itself all over him. That had been a rare luxury when Axl had been living there; the redhead used to freak out whenever he saw the snake roaming freely around the place, even glowering at her when she was safely locked up in her own tank. At least now he could peacefully enjoy her company and give her more freedom, he mused silently, letting his eyes fall shut.</p>
<p>He didn’t remember dozing off until he was startled awake by a loud knocking at the door. He blinked a couple of times, confused. He considered simply ignoring whoever was in front of his apartment door but the pounding resumed, more insistent this time. Not knowing who to expect, he quickly located the snake curled up against him, lifting her up before swiftly leaping to his feet, lowering his precious pet into her tank with a whispered apology.</p>
<p>He opened the door to find Stevie’s usually smiling face looking up at him with a shy, slightly pained expression.</p>
<p>“Hi” the blonde drummer greeted him weakly, lowering his gaze to the floor. “How are you doing?”</p>
<p>“Been better” Slash answered honestly. “What about you?”</p>
<p>“Same” Stevie answered in a whisper. “My girlfriend kicked me out. Do you mind if I move in with you, since you’re now alone? I’ve got nowhere else to go” the blonde added sadly. It was only now that Slash noticed the sports bag lying at his friend’s feet. The guitarist sighed and shook his head, hating the sight of his usually hyper, always happy friend looking so forlorn.</p>
<p>“Course you can. Misery likes company, as they say” he said slowly, then gathered his childhood friend in a tight hug. The drummer wrapped his arms around the other man, hugging him back with all his strength. </p>
<p>“Shit, Stevie, you’re crushing me” Slash exclaimed, wincing in pain. “I guess those years of hitting the drums have paid off, where’s the little skinny kid I used to know back in school?” he added with a soft smile, rubbing his ribs when the other man released him with an apologetic grin.</p>
<p>“Come on in, then” the guitarist said stepping aside for the blonde man to move into his place. “Welcome to the Hudson palace, complete with its five stars worth of mess.”</p>
<p>Stevie let out a little laugh, his eyes suddenly shining again with amusement, yet he made no move to enter the room, worrying his lower lip while nervously glancing over his shoulder.</p>
<p>“I… might have brought a guest” he said hesitantly. “He insisted that he wanted to talk to you, but it’s okay if you don’t…” the drummer trailed off, looking suddenly very interested in the wooden floor.</p>
<p>It was only then that the guitarist noticed the other figure lurking in the shadows in the narrow corridor. Taking a deep breath Duff walked a few steps forwards, looking hesitant and embarrassed.</p>
<p>“I heard about you and Axl” he said in a small voice “And I’d understand if you didn’t want to talk to me right now. I just wanted to say that I’m sorry, and I really mean that. If it hadn’t been for me…”</p>
<p>“It’s not your fault” Slash caught him off, never giving him a chance to finish his sentence. “It was never your fault, don’t even start feeling guilty. I’m the only one responsible for what happened between me and Axl. And for what it’s worth, you were a perfect boyfriend, if only for an evening” he said with a relieved chuckle he hadn’t known he’d been holding.</p>
<p>“Thanks” Duff replied, laughing lightly as well. “No offense man, but you look like shit.”<br/>Slash laughed earnestly, only too aware of his disheveled appearance, complete with unwashed, torn clothes. Truth to be told he didn’t even remember when he had last spent a whole night sleeping like every normal person does. Instead he had lost track of time, drinking too much, using when he could get enough money to buy something to wash his pain away, waking up and drifting off at all random hours of the day or night.</p>
<p>The tall blonde walked in, setting a brown paper bag on the guitarist’s small coffee table.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ve brought some food” Duff said quietly, handing the other man a box containing leftover cupcakes from his workplace. “Make sure you eat them, you look like you need it” he added with a clearly concerned gaze. Great, Slash mused, he must then look even worse than he felt.</p>
<p>“There’s also a present” Duff added shyly, handing him a package wrapped in old newspaper.</p>
<p>“Really Duff, you didn’t have to bring me anything” Slash replied, feeling more than a little embarrassed. “If someone should apologize it’s me, I’m the one who behaved like a complete asshole, I definitely don’t deserve any gifts.”</p>
<p>“It’s fine, just open it, maybe it’ll cheer up your day a little bit, it looks like you need it” the tall blonde added with a shrug.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah, open it! I helped him choose and I know you’ll love it!” Stevie exclaimed, suddenly bouncing on his heels like his old self again. The curly haired man almost rolled his eyes but complied with a smirk, carefully unwrapping the present as slowly as he could, relishing in his best friend’s impatience. His breath caught in his throat when his eyes came upon the seemingly old, yet pristine illustrated encyclopedia of the world’s rarest snakes.</p>
<p>“Wow, that’s such a great book” Slash said, feeling slightly emotional as he remembered Duff’s genuine lack of knowledge about his love for reptiles back at his mother’s house. </p>
<p>“Now you know that I remember about that weird passion of yours” the blonde said with a chuckle, pleased to see a little more life coming back in the dark haired man’s eyes.</p>
<p>“It’s over here, look!” Stevie beamed, grabbing Duff’s hand to lead him to the snake tank.  Duff stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes growing wide at the sight.</p>
<p>“Holy shit, that thing’s huge!” the bassist exclaimed, admiration as well as a little bit of fear in his voice.</p>
<p>“Don’t call her a thing, and for your information she’s an adorable little baby doll” Slash replied, feeling slightly offended.</p>
<p>“Sure, if you say so” Duff answered with a shrug and a bemused grin. </p>
<p>“Anyway, I heard you got the job in the band. Congratulations, man. I knew you could do it” the guitarist offered with a shy but sincere smile.</p>
<p>“Thanks, although that was a pretty weird audition if you must know. He surely doesn’t talk a lot, that redheaded friend of yours” Duff trailed off, looking slightly uncomfortable.</p>
<p>“Izzy was the one doing all the talking, can you believe that?” Stevie said rolling his eyes. “We went through a couple of songs but Axl was completely out of it, kept messing up the lyrics. And then he started singing a completely different song than the one we were playing. That’s when Izzy snapped and told him to get his shit together. As you can guess that didn’t go over too well, and next thing I know they’re yelling at each other, so I went out with Duff for a smoke break while world war three went on in there.”</p>
<p>“Yeah, it was quite a sight to behold, these two screaming in each other’s face, it felt like being locked in a cage with two roaring lions” Duff confirmed with a nervous chuckle. “It went on for a while, then they both came out, told me I had the job and to be there tomorrow for rehearsal. Then they just left, and that was it. As I said, strangest audition ever.” </p>
<p>“I can imagine that” the curly haired man sighed, before suddenly falling back down on the couch, feeling slightly dizzy all of a sudden.</p>
<p>“Shit, you really haven’t been taking care of yourself, have you?” Duff said softly in a worried voice. “Here, eat a little bit” he added, pressing a cupcake in the other man’s hand.</p>
<p>The guitarist took a tentative bite, closing his eyes at the wonderful taste. His stomach was still churning and he wasn’t particularly hungry, but Duff’s stern gaze convinced him to take another mouthful. Steven came back with a glass of water, handing it to his friend before sitting down on the floor in front of the occupied couch.</p>
<p>“So” Stevie said after a moment of silence, “what are you planning to do?”</p>
<p>“What do you mean?” the curly haired man asked, confused. The water helped clear his head, and his stomach felt slightly better too now that he was halfway through his second cupcake.</p>
<p>“The situation you’re in with Axl” Stevie clarified, his brows furrowed in an unusual serious expression. “The way I see it, you only have two options: give up and get over him, or try to fix things up with him.”</p>
<p>“As if it was that simple” Slash sighed, running a hand through his messy, tangled hair. “He wouldn’t talk to me even if I tried.”</p>
<p>“So, that’s it then?” Stevie sounded very disappointed. “You won’t even try to talk to him, just let things be the way they are and forget about him?”</p>
<p>“That I can’t do” the guitarist replied in a whisper, fighting the urge to remind the drummer that he had been the one to come up with the idea that caused the mess he was now in.</p>
<p>“Then it’s settled” Stevie exclaimed, flashing him one of his usual bright smiles while he leapt to his feet. “You’ll have to find a way to talk to him, corner him at rehearsal if you have to.”</p>
<p>Seemingly satisfied, Steven stood up, staring at his friend with a frown on his face. “Now, about yourself; you will take a shower and change into clean clothes. I’m sorry, but you smell, man. In the meanwhile, me and Duff will clean up this mess you call home, I almost tripped over a dozen bottles on my way to the kitchen sink” he said with a disapproving look. “Then we’ll see about filling that fridge with something else than alcohol. But first things first: shower.”</p>
<p>The dark haired man was about to protest but the blonde grabbed his arm, unceremoniously hauling him to his feet before ushering him to the small bathroom. He held his hands up in surrender, letting himself be half dragged to the shower, a little smile hovering on his lips. Stevie could be quite the authoritarian when he set his mind to it.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Slash couldn’t believe his eyes when he stepped out of the bathroom; he didn’t think he took too long to shower, and yet the place was unbelievably cleaner. All the trash lying around had disappeared, the only signs left of it being two big plastic trash bags sitting by the door. It smelt a lot fresher too, he noticed as he spotted his two friends standing by the open window, looking outside while smoking and chatting quietly. They seemed to be having fun, he thought as he watched Duff throw his head back with a hearty laugh at something the drummer had just said, probably one of his stupid jokes.</p>
<p>“Anyway, do you have anything planned tomorrow night? I was thinking maybe we could go out after rehearsal, I know a great club not far from here. It would be nice to spend some time together, since we’re now the band’s rhythm section, so it’d be cool if we did some bonding, right?” Stevie asked quietly, watching the taller man intently with his big baby blue eyes, casually brushing his arm against Duff’s.</p>
<p>Slash almost rolled his eyes at the drummer’s words. Rhythm section bonding time? Yeah, right. He was totally not being obvious about his intentions there.</p>
<p>“Sure, sounds like a plan” Duff replied, smiling as he slightly leaned a little to the side so that his arm was fully pressed against the other man.</p>
<p>“Great! I’ll pick you up and drive you to rehearsal, and then we can drive off directly to the club! You’ll like it, it’s a really cool place” Stevie started to babble happily about his favorite hangout place while the curly haired man discreetly padded over to his dresser to get a clean shirt, not wanting to interrupt his friends’ private moment. Tomorrow’s rehearsal would be interesting for sure, he mused silently, between the rhythm section flirting together, Izzy’s threats from earlier hanging in the air and his less than cordial relation with Axl at the moment, it would definitely be an interesting evening.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm going to repeat myself all over again but I really want to say a big thank you to everyone who bears with me and takes the time to read this story. I'm trying my best to not disappoint!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Izzy looked up, frowning slightly at the sudden disturbance. He had come extra early at rehearsal, hoping to enjoy some peace and quiet, lazily strumming his guitar, lost in his own thoughts until the rest of the band showed up. Casting a brief glance at his watch he was surprised to see that he had in fact been sitting there for more than an hour, and that his bandmates were actually a little bit late. He craned his neck to look at the door as Steven and Duff came in, talking and laughing loudly, Slash trailing behind them, looking slightly uncomfortable. </p>
<p>The two blondes greeted him cheerfully while Slash mumbled something inaudible in his direction, carefully avoiding his gaze. Now this wouldn’t do, Izzy thought setting aside his guitar with a sigh. There weren’t many things that could displease him, honestly, but someone breaking his best friend’s heart was on top of his list. Tensions inside the band issuing in a ruined practice was definitely in that top five list too. True, Slash had fucked up, but he didn’t hate the guy; he was deeply upset about what he had done to Axl, but then this was between them, and he had expressed his thoughts on that matter to the other guitarist.</p>
<p>Swallowing his pride, he slowly walked over to the curly haired man who was currently busying himself getting his guitar out of its case.</p>
<p>“Hey, since we have some time before rehearsing I’d like to talk to you about which songs we already played with Duff and which ones I’d like to go through today, since you weren’t there last time” he said softly. Slash whipped around, eyes wide with shock.</p>
<p>“So we’re on talking terms again now?” he asked warily.</p>
<p>“We’re in the same band, of course we need to talk. And for what it’s worth you’re still my friend, as long as you stay away from Axl and avoid hurting him again. He’s been through enough shit in the past already. So, now that things are clearer for you, what about we start on these songs?”</p>
<p>“Sure” Slash replied, completely taken aback by the other man’s sudden honest outburst. “But first, where’s Axl? I haven’t seen him around” he added, taking a quick look around the place to make sure he hadn’t accidentally missed him.</p>
<p>“Do I need to remind you about Axl’s usual lack of punctuality?” Izzy answered, rolling his eyes.</p>
<p>“But I thought he was staying at your place? Didn’t you guys drive here together?” the curly haired man asked with a frown.</p>
<p>“He was. We had a little argument yesterday and he stormed off, I haven’t seen him since then.”</p>
<p>“Wait, does this mean that you have no idea where he’s been all this time? Did you even try searching for him?” Slash said quickly, starting to feel very uneasy. Axl had been gone for more than twenty four hours, had spent the night who knew where and hadn’t made it to rehearsal yet, and there Izzy was, acting all cool about it as if it wasn’t a big deal?</p>
<p>“I’d rather give him his space than listen to him scream himself hoarse at me” the rhythm guitarist replied with a shrug. “He’s not a little kid, Slash. He can look after himself.”</p>
<p>The curly haired man’s frown deepened, but he remained silent. What else was there to say? If Izzy wasn’t worried, then he shouldn’t be either; after all, as the raven haired man had said, Axl could fend for himself. But when he got into those strange moods of his, who knew what he would end up doing? Slash knew only too well of the redhead’s talent for finding himself in trouble, but he tried to push that thought out of his mind. Axl had left him, he remembered sadly, which meant he was probably the last person he’d want to go looking for him.</p>
<p>His unease only grew as time passed by, even though he tried his best to focus on what he was doing. They showed Duff a few more of their songs, and Slash couldn’t help but marvel at how fast their new bass player picked up the melodies, adding his own personal touch to them, adapting to the other’s playing with a surprising ease. To be completely honest, his bass playing was a little rusty as he was more of a guitar player and drummer, but with some more practice he’d blend in perfectly. Most importantly, he had no trouble picking up on Steven’s drumming style, locking his own bass notes around his beat to create a nice solid rhythm part.</p>
<p>Slash was beginning to really get into the music when the door to their rehearsal space suddenly burst open to let in a whirlwind of red hair.</p>
<p>“You’re late” Izzy deadpanned. “Where the fuck have you been?”</p>
<p>“Out enjoying my freedom” Axl replied casually. Slash frowned at his answer, but didn’t say a single word. The redhead looked oddly calm and relaxed, his hair lightly tousled and wait, were these pink leather pants he was wearing? Now that was new, the curly haired man thought, sucking in his breath as he took in the sight. Those stupid pants clung to the lithe body in all the right places, he couldn’t help but notice, tearing his gaze away as a slight blush crept to his cheeks.</p>
<p>The redhead greeted Steven with a nod of his head, flashed a bright grin at Duff before casually making his way to his childhood friend, deliberately refusing to acknowledge Slash’s presence.</p>
<p>“Do you have a smoke for me?” he asked Izzy in a surprisingly soft voice. </p>
<p>“Sure, take your sweet time, why don’t you?” Izzy rolled his eyes at him, but reached for his pack of cigarettes anyway before handing it to his friend. “Nice pants you got there by the way” he added with a smirk.</p>
<p>“I know, right? Aren’t they perfectly flattering to my ass?” Axl replied with a cheeky grin, quickly turning around to wiggle his ass at Izzy, who rolled his eyes again and gave the leather clad bottom a playful slap.</p>
<p>“How about you get that ass in working mode? We’ve been waiting for you for forty five minutes, you know” the rhythm guitarist said, beginning to sound slightly annoyed.</p>
<p>“Forty five minutes isn’t being late” Axl answered with a sly grin as he lit his cigarette. “It’s called giving you guys time to warm up.”   </p>
<p>“So, which song should we start with?” Duff asked suddenly, eager to dissolve the slowly building tension between his band mates.</p>
<p>“Let’s go through Jungle again, see how good you can do this time” the singer replied, staring intently at the tall blonde.</p>
<p>Things went relatively smoothly, Slash reflected silently after an hour and a half of playing. He had expected the worst after Stevie and Duff had related Axl’s poor performance at the bass player’s audition, but today he was firing on all cylinders, hitting every high note to perfection while pouring his heart in every lyric. He even danced around a little, going over to Izzy to put an arm around his shoulders as they shared vocals, when he wasn’t draping himself all over Duff, whispering something in his ear before dancing away, winking at him. Not once did he spare a single glance in Slash’s direction, acting as if he wasn’t even present in the room with them.</p>
<p>Izzy glared at the singer with a deep frown on his face, Duff was smiling but looked a little uncomfortable, even Stevie wasn’t being his usual cheerful self, constantly casting worried glances at his bandmates. Slash was completely mortified, his face burning with humiliation. He had been expecting a cold treatment from Axl, but this was really pushing things too far. No matter how many times he tried to catch the singer’s eyes he would still be denied the slightest bit of recognition. He couldn’t help but sigh audibly in relief when their leader finally declared that they had worked enough for today.</p>
<p>“Great playing, Duff” he said softly, his hand gently patting the taller man’s shoulder. “You really did well. I’m glad we have you in the band” the redhead added with a beaming smile. The bass player thanked him with a smile, then cast Slash a confused gaze, to which the curly haired man answered with a shrug.</p>
<p>“Since we’re done for the evening, why don’t you come with me share a couple of drinks? It’d be nice to spend some time together” the singer unexpectedly said in his deep baritone voice, taking Duff completely aback. Both guitarists frowned at these words while Steven looked completely crushed. </p>
<p>“Sure, that would be nice” the tall blonde answered, still smiling as he safely locked his bass guitar in its worn looking case. “How about another time? I happen to already have plans for tonight. You coming, Stevie?” he called out to the drummer, picking up his instrument. Steve gaped at him for a second, then flashed him his brighter than the sun trademark smile, happily hopping off his drumming stool to join the taller man.</p>
<p>Axl watched them leave with a shocked expression on his face, causing Slash to smirk discreetly while mentally giving Duff a big thumbs up. Now that was something the redhead definitely didn’t expect, he reflected, amused by the other man’s dejected face. One did not simply say no to Axl, yet Duff had just done so, and now it looked that there were two of them without any plans for the night.</p>
<p>The guitarist stared at that beautiful, disappointed face in silence, his gaze slowly travelling over his body, taking in the nice shiny pink leather pants, almost drooling at the sight. He was being far too obvious, but at that moment he didn’t care, taking his time to fully check out the other man. He didn’t look unwell, he thought slightly surprised, still a bit too skinny but otherwise well groomed, his flaming red hair falling in cascades of silk over his shoulders. Axl let out a deep sigh, briefly shook his head, then as if sensing the piercing stare directed at him slowly turned his head towards the guitarist. Their gazes met, the redhead’s expression turning into a disapproving frown for a moment, before slightly softening at the other man’s warm smile.</p>
<p>It was now or never. Making up his mind, Slash took a deep breath and slowly took a step towards Axl only to be stopped by a hand closing firmly around his arm.</p>
<p>“Can I talk to you for a minute?” Izzy asked calmly, his eyes shining with a strange glance. “I’ve got this new riff that I wanted to show you.”</p>
<p>“What, now? Can’t it wait?” the curly haired man replied, unable to keep his annoyance out of his voice.</p>
<p>“What better time to show you a new riff than at rehearsal?” the raven haired man said, raising his eyebrows questioningly. “It’ll only take a minute, I’ll play it to you a few times so that it gets stuck in your head, and then you can work on it when you get home.”<br/>Slash almost sighed in frustration. Izzy’s argument was totally valid, he had absolutely no reason to refuse and should be thrilled to hear something new to work on, if only his timing wasn’t so bad.</p>
<p>“Alright, just give me a second, I need to…” he started to say, turning his head to where Axl had been standing just a moment before, only to find him gone. He could have screamed in frustration. And Izzy was still staring intently at him, waiting.</p>
<p>“You need to what?” he asked quietly.</p>
<p>“I need to pick up my guitar” the curly haired man answered with a defeated sigh.  </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>It turned out to last longer than a minute, more like an hour or two, he had lost count of time when he and Izzy finally made their way out of their rehearsal room. The new riff was nice, Slash couldn’t help but agree on that. It only lacked a little knack to it, a small something that would really make it stand out. After they both played it over and over, changing the rhythm, adding a couple of notes here and there before changing it again, the two guitarists came out with not only what they both considered to be a decent riff but also the beginning of a melody for what could possibly become a big hit.</p>
<p>Slash was relieved to see that his musical chemistry with Izzy was still intact, reveling in the way they worked together almost effortlessly. The skinny raven haired man truly was a gifted musician, and it was a true privilege to play with him, the curly haired man thought with a soft smile. When he expressed his thoughts Izzy brushed him off and looked away, embarrassed. </p>
<p>“Talent is a rather relative concept” he replied quietly. “I guess there are many other musicians more experienced and talented than we are, but in the end it’s the chemistry between five guys in a band that create real magic.”</p>
<p>“I suppose you’re right” Slash answered thoughtfully. “Are you going home right away or do you want to hang out a little?”</p>
<p>“I guess I’ll just go back and get some rest” the older man replied, running a hand on his pale, tired face. “I’ve been up last night making some money, I’m probably going to crash as soon as I get home.”<br/>The other man nodded silently, knowing all too well what Izzy’s nightly business was all about, but then, they all needed money to eat and pay the rent.</p>
<p>“Do you mind if I come along? I won’t stay long, I just want to talk to Axl for a minute” the curly haired man said hopefully, holding the rhythm guitarists’ piercing gaze.</p>
<p>“Didn’t you notice how he completely ignored you earlier?” he asked with a light sneer. “I thought it was obvious enough. It’s too soon, forget it.”</p>
<p>“And how do you suggest I try and make things right with him if you won’t let me talk to him at all?” Slash shot back, his usually warm brown eyes shining with anger. Izzy only stared at him for a while, slowly lighting himself a smoke, taking a long drag from it before answering.</p>
<p>“The best advice I can give you is to forget about him for a while. A direct confrontation would result in complete disaster, and I have a feeling you’re driving yourself crazy worrying about him all the time. Why don’t you just… let him live his life and live yours, all right?” Izzy said with a smile, but there was definitely an obvious warning in the glint of his eyes that Slash didn’t like at all.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>The sun was long up in the sky when he opened his eyes, yet a quick glance at his alarm clock told him he had more than enough time to get ready for work. Sighing, he ran a hand through his messy curls, rubbing his still sleepy eyes. He had spent a good part of the night trying to work some more on the new song he and Izzy had begun to create, but his thoughts kept heading back to the awkward moment that had been their band practice.</p>
<p>Slash stretched and yawned, frowning when his hand came in contact with another body. A careful glance to his side revealed a familiar mop of bleach blonde hair and he sighed in relief. It was only Stevie, who had deserted the couch he usually crashed on to lie down on the more comfortable mattress next to his friend. </p>
<p>The smaller blonde was peacefully asleep, curled up in a tight ball on his side, his lips stretched into a contented smile even in his sleep. Slash sat up slowly, careful not to wake the other man, when something caught his eye; there, on the blonde’s pale neck stood a bright necklace of purple hickeys. At least someone had had a good night, even managing to get laid, the guitarist thought slightly resentfully, fighting the urge to kick Stevie awake just for the hell of it. He wondered briefly if those marks were Duff’s, but quickly pushed the thought away. He most definitely didn’t want to think about two of his bandmates having sex, especially not this early in the morning.</p>
<p>He slowly stood up and got dressed, heating some water while grabbing the pot of instant coffee from the small kitchen cupboard. He hated that stuff, it didn’t even taste like coffee at all, but Axl insisted that it was better than nothing and it was all that they could afford. Out of habit he grabbed the two mugs he and the redhead usually used, turning around in his hand the all familiar cup, all white with a rose motive in the middle. He had stolen it for Axl as a joke but the other man had taken a quick and everlasting liking to it. He shook his head as he remembered his new reality without his partner. Sighing, he put the mug Axl always claimed as his own carefully back in its place and took another, plain brown one out for Stevie instead.</p>
<p>He almost dropped the instant coffee pot when the phone suddenly started to ring. Now what, he wondered nervously as he slowly made his way to pick up, deliberately taking his time, letting the phone ring long enough to disturb Steven’s blissful sleep. People usually didn’t call him this early in the morning, and he expected bad news but was relieved when he heard his mother’s cheerful voice on the other end of the line.</p>
<p>“Happy birthday, sweetheart” she chirped happily. “I wanted to be the first one, I hope I didn’t wake you up?”</p>
<p>“No, I was already up getting ready for work, and thank you, it’s nice that you called” he replied softly. Wow, he had been so out of it that he had completely forgotten that today was his birthday.</p>
<p>He talked some more with his mother, sadly informing her of his breakup with Axl. She sounded shocked at the news and genuinely worried.</p>
<p>“How did that happen? Did you talk to him?”</p>
<p>“A mutual friend of ours beat me to it” Slash replied with a sigh. “And he’s been doing his best to keep me from talking to Axl ever since. He only wants to protect him, but believe me, when he sets his mind on something it’s extremely difficult to change his mind.”</p>
<p>“I’m so sorry to hear that, you must be so heartbroken” she said in a sad little voice. “And what about him? How is he coping with the breakup?” she asked tentatively.</p>
<p>“Better than I thought” the guitarist admitted reluctantly. “It almost looks like he has already moved on.”</p>
<p>“Now that’s really sad” Ola said sounding tearful. “Saul, listen… I know this must be hard for you, but you have to stay strong, alright? And don’t give up, not until you’ve managed to talk to him at least once. If he makes it clear that it’s over for good to him, well… let’s not imagine the worst yet” she added, fighting back a little sob, taking a short moment to compose herself.</p>
<p>“Saul, my son, you are a strong man. You want him, you fight for him, understood?” she said resolutely. </p>
<p>“I’ll try, I promise” he answered, not sounding half as sure of himself as he wanted, but deep inside he knew his mother was right. He wouldn’t give up until he’d manage to talk to Axl, he thought resolutely as he hung up at the end of the phone call.</p>
<p>A strong hand suddenly started rubbing soothing circles on his back and he turned around, startled, to find Stevie staring at him, looking concerned and sad.</p>
<p>“Are you alright?” the blonde asked weakly.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure, to be honest” Slash answered with a brave smile, brushing away unshed tears from his eyes. “But I will be, don’t worry.”<br/>Steven’s face looked as sad as the guitarist felt. The drummer looked hesitant for a few seconds, then gathered his friend in a strong hug.</p>
<p>“Of course I worry, that’s what friends are for” Stevie said softly. “Happy birthday, by the way. I know I’m not the one you’d have wanted to spend it with, but I’m here, and I’m happy to be spending this special day with you. Oh, and before you have to go off to work, I have a present!”</p>
<p>And off he went, happy again as usual. Slash shook his head at his friend’s  antics, feeling suddenly glad to have him at home on his birthday. Sure, like Stevie said, he wasn’t the one he would have preferred to spend this day with, but at least he wasn’t alone and his best friend’s presence was sure to not get him bored or depressed.</p>
<p>Stevie’s eyes were shining like diamonds when the curly haired man opened the package containing a beautiful metallic belt. Slash held it out in the light, marveling at the details engraved on the belt.</p>
<p>“It would fit perfectly with your leather pants” Stevie chirped in excitedly as the other man inspected his present. “You’d make quite a sight if you wore it onstage!”</p>
<p>If their band once managed to be booked in a larger venue, the guitarist thought bitterly. But yes, it was a fine belt, one he would wear with pride, even if they kept playing in small clubs for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>They both drank their cheap coffee in silence, oddly enough for someone like Stevie who usually didn’t shut up from the moment he cracked an eye open until he went to sleep at whatever hour he choose to crash at. Instead the drummer was staring dreamily into empty space, a small grin plastered on his face. Slash raised his eyebrows at him, considering for a moment to question him, but gave up, deciding that he definitely wasn’t ready to hear the happy tale of his friend’s glorious evening, especially if it involved Duff.</p>
<p>All too soon it was time for the guitarist to leave for work, mumbling a half hearted goodbye to his childhood friend. As he stepped out of his small apartment he was stopped by an unexpected rush of color from the usually boring floorboard. He blinked a few times, but there it was, a blood red rose, lying on his doormat.  </p>
<p>He stared at it for a moment, unable to move or to gather a single thought. Slowly, very slowly as if afraid to awake from an all too pleasant dream he picked up the flower, holding it up for inspection only to be forced to realize that it was real. It took all of his strength to walk calmly back in his apartment, making his way back to Steven to show him the unexpected gift.</p>
<p>“Hey, Stevie, see this? I just found it on my doorstep” he explained in a whisper while the blonde’s eyes went as wide as saucers. “There was no note to go with it, but who do you think it came from?”</p>
<p>“Holy shit” Steven exclaimed, his lips spreading in a big happy smile. “Do you think it’s for me? From Duff?” he asked excitedly, bouncing from one foot to the other like a child on Christmas day.</p>
<p>“I don’t think so” Slash replied, rolling his eyes. “It’s my birthday, and it’s a rose, see?” he added holding the flower under his friend’s nose. “A rose, like Axl’s last name.” </p>
<p>He remembered, he still cared, Slash thought happily, burying his nose in the sweet scented flower, closing his eyes in delight. He couldn’t remember feeling happier in days as he took in the sight of this wonderful, precious present, making him almost dizzy when a sudden thought almost made him drop the precious flower.</p>
<p>Red roses. Just like the bouquet Duff had bought for his mother on that dreaded evening, the guitarist thought, his insides filling with a sudden cold. The very same flowers he had seen on his mother’s dinner table.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I've been on a creative roll for the past few days, so here's a new chapter a bit earlier than usual. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Another uneventful, boring day at work, Slash thought, sighing as he doodled lazily in his sketchbook. A quick glance at his watch told him he only had twenty minutes left to suffer before he could finally close the store. The owner had left around midday and he had been on his own ever since. It hadn’t been a busy day, his only customer being a middle aged man with a passion for classical music, who had left after fifteen minutes of complaining about the lack of records from Mozart and Bach. The guitarist had calmly explained that this store specialized in rock music, hence the limited choice in other music genres and the man had left with an offended look on his face.</p>
<p>At least he had his sketch book to keep him busy, but he couldn’t wait to finally go back home and get piss ass drunk. It was his birthday, after all, and he was practically sure that Steven would remember to buy some booze. A quick look outside showed a mostly empty street; it had been an oddly quiet day with barely any traffic going on and even lesser passers by on foot, most of which didn’t even spare at single glance at the record store.</p>
<p>It was time to find another job, Slash mused, half heartedly sketching caricatured faces of the members of Aerosmith. He never kept the same job for too long, and so far had been lucky enough to find new employment easily enough. As thrilled as he had been at first to work in a record store, one specialized in rock and metal music no less, he had quickly grown bored of the long, uneventful days. He contemplated closing earlier for once, no one would come in anymore and the owner wasn’t even there to check on his timing, so he would be none the wiser.</p>
<p>As if on cue the door of the shop suddenly opened, triggering the little bells hanging over it whose soft sound indicated every newcomer. The curly haired man cursed under his breath; he had been this close to go home a bit earlier and some jackass had to come fifteen minutes before closing time just to annoy him. Pushing his sketch book to the side he raised his head to greet the customer and choked on his breath, blinking a couple of times to make sure he wasn’t dreaming.</p>
<p>In front of him stood a very familiar man, dressed in the same ridiculous pink leather pants he had last seen him in, coupled with a bright red t-shirt. His hair was tied in a loose ponytail and his lips were stretched in a lazy smile.</p>
<p>“How can I help you?” the guitarist asked warily when it looked like all the other man seemed to be doing was stare at him in silence.</p>
<p>“I’m looking for a present for someone” Axl answered in his deep baritone voice, taking a few steps closer to the other man. “Maybe you could help me choose something nice?”</p>
<p>“A present, today?” the guitarist exclaimed, genuinely surprised. “Like for someone’s birthday?” he asked boldly. Axl simply stared at him, his expression unreadable, keeping his mouth stubbornly shut. </p>
<p>“Sure, let’s take a look” Slash said leading the redhead into the rows of records, hiding both a frown and a light blush behind his thick curls. Now what was that all about? Had he come to talk, to try and make peace between them, or was this another one of his mind games?</p>
<p>The redhead didn’t look like he wanted to talk, instead lazily browsing through the many records in front of him. The guitarist studied him attentively, trying to read his attentions through his body language. He looked neither apologetic nor hesitant, but brash and defiant, tossing his long red mane around, bending over to take a closer look at the lower row of records, deliberately offering a perfect view of his ass to the other man. </p>
<p>The singer took his sweet time, picking up record after record, examining the cover closely before putting it back and starting all over again with another one. Slash grew more and more impatient as minutes ticked by and still the other man failed to make a choice. It was now way past closing time, and it looked like the little devil was in no hurry to decide which record to buy, if he even bought anything at all.</p>
<p>“You sure don’t have a lot of Beatles records to choose from” Axl informed him with a scowl. </p>
<p>“I’m afraid not” Slash replied, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. “What about the new Aerosmith record? It’s good, trust me, I’ve been playing it a couple of times in here.”</p>
<p>The redhead grabbed the record the other man was handing him, checking it out with interest before letting out a light, mocking laugh.</p>
<p>“Oh, no. That’s way too expensive, no way I can afford it.”</p>
<p>“Look, it’s way past closing time, how much longer do you plan to hesitate? Maybe I should lock you up in there and come back tomorrow morning to see if you’ve finally made a choice?” the guitarist asked derisively, fighting back the urge to suggest a certain place on the redhead’s anatomy where he could shove his too expensive record.</p>
<p>“You’re terribly rude with your clients” Axl remarked, raising his eyebrows at the other man. “Alright then, I’ll take your damned Aerosmith record, but it’d better be worth my money.”</p>
<p>The guitarist gaped at him for a second before composing himself. He couldn’t believe the other man’s nerve; first he completely ignored him at rehearsal, and now this? His fists were closed tightly, fighting the growing urge to hit the redhead.</p>
<p>“I sure hope he will like his gift then” Slash replied with a sarcastic grin.</p>
<p>“When did I say it was a he? Maybe it’s a she I’m getting this gift for” the redhead said with a teasing smirk as he set the record on the cash register, pulling his wallet out of his back pocket to pay for his purchase.</p>
<p>“If it’s a woman then you should have just bought some fucking flowers and saved us both the trouble of having this awkward conversation” the curly haired man hissed, seething in anger.</p>
<p>“So you’re saying that women can’t have a good taste in music, and would choose flowers over any other gifts any day?” the singer said, raising his eyebrows questioningly, his shit-eating grin plastered to his face, green eyes shining maliciously.  </p>
<p>“What I’m saying is that you’re too cheap to be buying flowers for anyone” Slash shot back defiantly. Axl held his gaze, something dangerous flashing in his eyes for the briefest moments.</p>
<p>“You’d be surprised” he said in quiet, yet undeniably tense voice, a stony expression replacing his previous devious grin. “I won’t be wasting anymore of your precious time then” he practically snarled, snatching the record and angrily walking off to leave.</p>
<p>“One more minute, if you don’t mind” Slash called after him, effectively stopping the redhead in his tracks, his hand already on the doorknob. He whipped around, glaring at him menacingly.</p>
<p>“There’s absolutely nothing forcing me to listen to anything you have to say” the singer answered slowly, almost spitting out every word.</p>
<p>“Actually” the guitarist replied, grabbing his notebook before walking resolutely up to Axl, “this is band related, so yes, I’m afraid you’ll have to listen to me.” He graced the redhead with a triumphant grin, watching the other man’s inner struggle before he shrugged, crossing his arms defensively on his chest.</p>
<p>“Fine, spit it out then” he sighed as the curly haired man quickly flipped through his sketchbook, holding it out for the other man to see once he had found the picture he had been looking for.</p>
<p>“I redrew the new bang logo, you think it’s any good?” Slash asked calmly, showing Axl one of his latest sketches of two guns entwined with roses. The singer stared at him, looking first surprised, then disappointed.</p>
<p>“It’s hardly different from the last ones you showed me, and yes, I’ve already told you that it was good, how many times do I have to say it?” Axl growled, sounding more than a little bit annoyed.</p>
<p>“I was thinking about coloring it” the curly haired man continued as if he hadn’t heard the singer’s words. “What color do you think the roses should be?” he asked quietly, putting emphasis on the flower’s name, holding the other man’s piercing green gaze.</p>
<p>“Red of course” Axl replied without missing a beat, his teasing grin back on his face. “Red roses stand for love, and passion” he added, his voice dropping to a low whisper as he bend slightly so that his lips were inches away from the other man’s ear. “That’s exactly how we feel about our music, right?” he said, quickly pulling away and left, just like that, with a satisfied smile on his face.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Steven had really outdone himself this time, the guitarist thought as he came home to the pleasant smell of pasta, tomato sauce and scrambled eggs. The drummer had been in another shoplifting expedition, managing to steal unnoticed all the food, completely fooling the unsuspecting cashier with his bright smile as he paid for a small chocolate cake ‘for his sick grandmother’. It was unbelievable how many dumb lies Stevie managed to get away with, Slash thought shaking his head with a smile as his friend narrated all the details of his ‘shopping trip’. </p>
<p>“And I would have had more eggs if it hadn’t been for that kid, some little brat who drove a shopping cart all over the place like it was a race car or something. He bumped into me, and two eggs cracked open in my jacket pocket” the blonde man said with a dejected pout. “Now my jacket’s ruined, and we only have a tiny amount of scrambled eggs.”</p>
<p>“That’s all right, it’s better than nothing” the guitarist reassured him with a friendly pat on his arm. “Don’t worry about your jacket, I’m sure we’ll manage to clean it.”</p>
<p>“I’ve laid it to soak up in water and a little bit of soap, I hope it’ll be enough” Stevie said with a sad sigh. “I really like that jacket, it has nice big pockets.”</p>
<p>The curly haired man stifled back a laugh; of course his immature idiot of a best friend would worry about his jacket of all things, and for the sole reason that it had pockets big enough to hide all kind of stolen goods. But he had a kind heart, and it was thanks to the stupid blonde that they were both casually chatting over a nice meal. </p>
<p>The pasta was slightly burnt, but the tomato sauce made up for it, it even had small olive slices in it, the guitarist noticed pleasantly, savoring every precious bite. Sure, it was far from a fancy restaurant meal, but it was food.</p>
<p>They had even put the rose in an empty beer can for a lack of vases and it sat in the middle of the table, adding a nice touch of color to the scenery. They had bickered like children over who the rose came from, but tonight both were strangely cool about it; Stevie didn’t glare at him any more every time he looked at it, instead letting the dark haired man look his fill. The guitarist was slightly surprised by that, but definitely didn’t mind.</p>
<p>Slash still didn’t know what to make of it, his earlier conversation with Axl had only added more to his confusion, but then he had hinted at red roses, love and passion. Oh yeah, there had been so much love and passion in the way Axl had treated him the past few days, he reflected bitterly.</p>
<p>“By the way, how was work today?” Steven asked innocently after they had polished their plates and were now currently chewing happily on a slightly too sugary chocolate cake.</p>
<p>“You’ll never guess who showed up” Slash answered with a sigh before proceeding to tell the other man all about Axl’s odd behavior and their awkward conversation.</p>
<p>“So, he made a show of buying a present but didn’t give it to you, and he treated you like shit to top it all?” Stevie exclaimed, eyes wide in shock. “He really is an ass, you know that, right?”</p>
<p>“He has a reason to be” the guitarist said with a sad smile between two bites of cake. “Actions have consequences, and of course with him there’s never half measures, I had to learn that the hard way.” </p>
<p>“He has no right to treat you like this” Steven said suddenly, his eyes shining with anger, and pain for his best friend. “You might have made a mistake, all right so what now? How long are you going to let him do this to you?”</p>
<p>“Ask him, not me” Slash replied with a shrug.<br/>The drummer slowly put down the rest of his slice of cake, a thoughtful expression on his face, brows furrowed in concentration. The curly haired man frowned at that, he didn’t like that look on the blonde’s face; last time he had seen it he had come up with a plan that had turned his life into pure hell.</p>
<p>“Do you know what I think you should do?” Steve said slowly, his face lighting up all of a sudden.</p>
<p>“Stevie, no offense, but no” Slash cut him short immediately. “I think it’s better if I try and sort this out without your help.”</p>
<p>“But you haven’t even heard what I wanted to say” Steven protested with a scowl. “At least let me tell you my idea, and then you’d be free to decide what you want to do, okay?”</p>
<p>The dark haired man nodded with a sigh, bracing himself for another crazy idea. The drummer hesitated for a short moment, frowning as he tried to find the perfect words to express his thoughts. He reached for the bottle of cheap red wine and filled both their glasses –yes, they had actually bothered to use glasses for the special occasion.</p>
<p>“I think you should fight him with his own weapons” Stevie started carefully. “He wants to play his weird mind games with you? Play along, stop allowing him to keep the upper hand” he concluded with a proud smile that soon vanished at his friend’s lack of enthusiasm. </p>
<p>“Forget it, Stevie. I’ll just let him do his thing until he gets bored of it, then maybe he’ll be willing to talk” the guitarist answered, lazily sipping his wine.</p>
<p>“You know Axl better than I do” the blonde insisted, his eyes shining with sheer determination. “If you don’t react to his provocations he’ll eventually get bored, yes, but maybe for good. Fight him, and you’ll have his interest again. I mean, it’s Axl we’re talking about, right? Why do you think he choose you to begin with, because you backed down from any confrontation, or because you were never afraid to stand up for yourself, even to him?”</p>
<p>Slash mulled over those words for a while, unable to make up his mind. In a way Steven was right, the redhead always looked up to people like himself who fought their battles and let nothing weigh them down, and so far he had been unable to make any progress in fixing their relationship. Maybe it was time for a change of plans, but how? He couldn’t just challenge the redhead to a fistfight, as tempting as it sometimes sounded he really didn’t want to physically hurt the other man on top of the damage he had already done.</p>
<p>“And what exactly would you suggest that I do?” he asked warily, watching the drummer’s face go blank.</p>
<p>“Oh, well… I…” he stammered, at a loss of words. “I don’t really know yet, but we’ll find something, a plan to give him back as good as you received.”</p>
<p>The dark haired man almost rolled his eyes at the weak answer, but found himself unable to come up with a decent idea either. Then he decided to try another approach: what would Axl do? If it was the other way around, how would he react? Fight back, obviously, Slash was forced to admit, taking another deep gulp of his wine. The thought was strangely reminiscent of his mother’s words; if you want him, fight for him.</p>
<p>As tender as their relationship might have been sometimes, neither of them were overly romantic, and both were fine with it. There had always been an underlying fight for power between them, not a mean one, but it was definitely a big part of what had cemented their couple. What if this was exactly what it was all about? Axl liked challenges, clearly, the guitarist thought as a smile slowly lit up his face. Now it was his turn to make the next move.</p>
<p>He swallowed the rest of his wine in one go, while letting his eyes roam around the room, searching for an idea, wrinkling his nose at the sight of his roommate’s clothes lying everywhere.</p>
<p>“Stevie, I know I’m not the tidiest person, but could you please not leave your stuff lying all over the place? It’s messy enough already, fucking hell there’s even underwear over there!” he exclaimed indignantly, pointing at a pair of boxers on the floor near his precious snake’s tank.</p>
<p>The drummer at least had the grace to look slightly ashamed, mumbling something about getting a laundry basket, but the dark haired man didn’t even hear him as a plan suddenly formed in his head, his lips tilting upwards in a devious smirk.</p>
<p>“By the way, I called Duff earlier to thank him for the rose” the drummer suddenly said as the other man stood up. “He had no idea what I was talking about, he thought I was making fun of him” Steven added sadly with a frown. Slash’s head whipped around in shock.</p>
<p>“And you tell me this only now?” he asked in disbelief.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>More wine might have been a good idea before putting his plan into motion, Slash thought as he stood nervously in front of the closed door. Maybe he could wait until the next day, but then he might not feel so brave anymore, he decided before knocking firmly on the door, then buried his hands in his pockets, his fingers closing firmly around the item in there.  </p>
<p>The door finally opened to reveal Izzy’s puzzled face, staring in wonder at the other guitarist’s unexpected arrival. Act quickly, or it’ll be too late, the guitarist reminded himself.</p>
<p>“Hi Izzy” Slash said in a confident voice, “I’m here to talk to Axl, unless you have another new riff to show me again?” he said with a mocking grin. He took advantage of the other man’s surprise to firmly push the door open so that he could step in, making a beeline for the redhead sitting up straight on an armchair, looking alarmed at the sudden intrusion. His eyes narrowed at his former boyfriend’s sudden appearance, his body tensing defensively.</p>
<p>“Hey baby” Slash said as casually as he could muster, closing quickly the distance between him and the redhead, who now looked up at him shocked and slightly scared. </p>
<p>“I wanted to thank you for your little surprise visit at the store earlier” the dark haired man said with his best seductive grin, loud enough to be sure that Izzy could hear him from his spot, still frozen in shock at the front door.</p>
<p>“Looks like you forgot something over there, so I thought I’d just go and bring it back before it’s missed” Slash said smiling brightly at the redhead, slowly producing a pair of bright red boxers that was actually his own from his leather jacket’s pocket.</p>
<p>The other man’s eyes went wide, mouth opening once before closing again, totally flabbergasted, then stammering that this offending piece of clothing wasn’t his, cheeks burning crimson in both humiliation and frustration, moss green eyes staring daggers at Slash.</p>
<p>“Don’t embarrass yourself in front of your friend, we both know the truth, unless you really want to yank your pants down to prove yourself right?” the curly haired man whispered a little louder than necessary in his ear, winking at the other man then quickly pressing his lips against Axl’s in a quick, forceful kiss, pulling away before the singer could react.</p>
<p>“Thanks again for your lovely birthday gift, I really loved it, see you soon, my sweet rose” he said with a seductive wink, dumping the underwear in the redhead’s lap before casually walking out of the apartment, past a puzzled Izzy who was now staring disapprovingly at Axl, shaking his head in disbelief.</p>
<p>The curly haired man breathed in the fresh air with a contented sigh as he made his way down the road, licking his lips briefly at the memory of the brief kiss he had stolen. He had almost forgotten how sweetly addictive Axl’s taste was, and he already longed for more, even though it’d probably be some time until it happened again.</p>
<p>But right now that didn’t really matter, he thought as he decided that he was done feeling miserable and wallowing in self-pity. If this was the way to win Axl back then he was definitely in. The game was on, and it turned out to be a rather enjoyable one after all.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The game is on indeed. How will Axl retaliate? Will this eventually lead to reconciliation or even further estrangement? Feel free to share your thoughts if you have any!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I want to thank again all of my readers for bearing with me. As much as I hate to admit it, this is now coming to an end and there will be one or two more chapters at most. As a reader I hate to see stories stretched out longer than necessary so I won't do it with my own story. This is not really the end yet, so look forward to more! Reviews are more then welcome as always!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There’s no way the neighbors wouldn’t evict him this time, Slash thought wincing at the loud music blasting out of his small apartment; he’d have to throttle Stevie if that happened, where would they find another place to stay at such a small price?</p>
<p>As he turned the key to open the door he froze in his tracks, recognizing a familiar Aerosmith song. One from the new album. He did not own it, but he knew someone who had purchased it recently at the very store he worked at. Now what? He thought, his hand trembling slightly on the doorknob. Had Axl actually come to his place, no doubt with murderous intentions? Why had Stevie simply let him in? Was his roommate even still alive? Maybe his psychotic ex-boyfriend had already done the job? </p>
<p>He slowly shook his head, smirking at his own crazy imagination. Axl might throw temper tantrums but most of the time he was harmless. As for killing Steven, hadn’t he considered doing the exact same thing a minute ago? Should he consider thanking the redhead for doing him a favor and help him hide the body? Okay, now he was really letting his imagination go overdrive, the guitarist decided, taking a deep breath before resolutely opening the door.</p>
<p>Of all the sights he had been expecting to find, Stevie sitting on top of the kitchen counter was not one of them. A very flushed, shirtless Stevie to be exact, his jean clad legs wrapped around a taller figure with equally blonde, tousled hair. The drummer let his head fall backwards, lips parted in what was undoubtedly an aroused moan, completely inaudible over the loud music while the other man seemed to be eating his neck.</p>
<p>The guitarist realized that he was staring and promptly composed himself; he had to do something before this went any further than he would have liked to witness. And they had to go at it on the kitchen counter of all places, he thought fighting back a repulsed gag. He marched over resolutely to the stereo system and promptly turned it off, causing the couple to abruptly stop their heated activities; Steven let out a surprised yelp, head whipping around in shock as they separated, both cursing under their breaths and blushing furiously.</p>
<p>“Hi, Slash, back home so soon? Is it that late already?” Stevie chirped happily, jumping down from the counter, offering his best friend a big, not so innocent smile while the taller blonde looked everywhere but in his direction. “Did you have a nice day?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Not as good as yours I bet” the curly haired man replied, smiling in satisfaction as the drummer’s whole face turned crimson. “You seemed to be having quite some fun over there” he said crossing his arms over his chest, staring intently at the other man who quickly looked away in embarrassment while nervously running a hand through his fluffy blonde hair.</p>
<p>“Yes, we were just, uh, we… Duff was teaching me how to cook!” Steven replied excitedly after some embarrassed stammering, looking up at his childhood friend with big, shiny blue eyes.</p>
<p>“Really?” Slash chuckled. “You have a very interesting way of cooking, Duff” he added, acknowledging the bass player’s presence with a bemused smile.</p>
<p>“Well, we were actually cooking” Duff said slowly, taking a few steps to join them. “I showed Stevie one of my miracle recipes to make a decent meal with very little money, learned that at work. We got slightly distracted, I guess.”<br/>
The taller man looked away, blushing again. Slash stared at him, eyebrows shooting up in wonder, he would never had thought Duff of all people to be of the shy type.</p>
<p>“So are you guys like together now?” the guitarist asked softly, deeply amused by the way both men shifted awkwardly, stealing questioning glances at each other.</p>
<p>“Not really” Steven replied first with a shrug.</p>
<p>“Yeah, we’re not like, dating or stuff, we’re just…” Duff started to say, gesturing with his hands in the air as he tried to find a suitable word.</p>
<p>“Fucking?” Stevie provided happily, frowning briefly when the taller man’s blush deepened even more. “And friends” the drummer added quickly. “Friends… with benefit I guess?” he turned his big hopeful eyes to the bassist for approval.</p>
<p>“Yes, I suppose you could say that” Duff said with a nod, suddenly very interested in a stain on his black combat boots.</p>
<p>Slash took pity on them and decided to end their misery by broaching another subject.</p>
<p>“By the way, Stevie, as much as I approve of your taste in music, try to keep it down next time, I really don’t want to get kicked out for making too much noise” he said in a clearly disapproving voice. </p>
<p>“Sorry about that” the smaller blonde answered sheepishly, looking every bit like a kid caught stealing candy. “Duff came in carrying something wrapped in this really cute paper with pink hearts on it” Steven told him, gesturing vaguely in the direction of pieces of torn wrapping paper laying discarded halfway under the couch, “so I thought it was for me and I tore it open before he had a chance to tell me that it was actually for you. Since it was already opened I thought why not put it on? You don’t mind that I opened it, do you?”</p>
<p>Slash opened his mouth to express his indignation before the reality of what his friend had just said hit him fully.</p>
<p>“Wait, did you just say that it was for me?” he questioned, casting confused glances alternatively between the two blonde men. </p>
<p>“Don’t get any wrong ideas, it’s nor from me!” Duff quipped in, holding up his hands in denial. “Axl gave it to me, telling me to deliver it to you” he said, shifting uncomfortably on the spot. Now it was the guitarist’s turn to gape at him in confusion.</p>
<p>“Axl told you to… shit, I’ll never understand that guy.” He pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration, sensing a headache coming. So the record had indeed been for him, but the redhead had still chosen to wait this long before giving it to Duff to give to him, and wrapped in paper adorned with pink hearts no less? It was so infuriatingly illogical that he could almost laugh at the absurdity of it all. Axl truly was one of a kind, he reflected with a small smile.  </p>
<p>***</p>
<p>“Come on, it’s time to go!” Stevie exclaimed with an annoyed glance at the other man who was still sprawled out on the couch, lazily watching his snake slither up his arm, curling its body around it.</p>
<p>“Rehearsal’s in an hour” Slash replied, raising his eyebrows. “And no one ever arrives on time anyway. Why are you in such a hurry?”</p>
<p>“Duffles said he’d be there early” Steven replied with a shrug, his frown deepening.</p>
<p>“Duffles, really?” the guitarist wondered, suppressing a chuckle as his eyebrows shot even higher up under his black curls. “You guys are calling each other pet names now?”</p>
<p>“He calls me teddy bear but don’t tell him I told you that” the drummer answered, his cheeks turning slightly pink. “So, are we going or not?”</p>
<p>“Alright, I’m getting up” the dark haired man replied with a sigh, gathering the snake in his arms, who suddenly began to hiss.</p>
<p>“Hey, none of that now baby doll” he chastised her softly. “Give your uncle Stevie a kiss.”<br/>
He held the snake up to his friend’s beaming face who cooed at the animal, pressing quick pecks on its little head.</p>
<p>The guitarist wasn’t particularly looking forward to the rehearsal, expecting their singer to come up with another creative way to tease him again. Last time he had had to endure the pink leather pants as well as being thoroughly ignored, what could possibly be next, he wondered when his lips suddenly spread into a little smile; he had an idea.</p>
<p>“You know what, I think I’d better get changed before we go” he told the drummer as he carefully lowered his pet into her tank. “I feel like dressing up a bit tonight for a change.” Steven first looked as if he was going to complain, then his eyes met the other man’s and a matching grin spread on his face as understanding hit him.</p>
<p>“Oh yes, good idea! Kill him with your looks, that’ll teach him a lesson” the blonde answered gleefully, bouncing excitedly on his heels like he always did whenever he felt over enthusiastic. “Can I help you choose your outfit?”</p>
<p>And that’s how the curly haired man ended up wearing his brand new skin tight jeans ripped at the knees coupled with the metallic belt his best friend had given him for his birthday. To complete the look he had put on one of the drummer’s white crop tops; he had first insisted that it would be too short for him but as Stevie had cleverly put it, it made just the right amount of nice caramel colored skin stand out. As a finishing touch the blonde hooked up in his friend’s ears a pair of silver colored star shaped earrings that he had ‘borrowed’ from one of his ex-girlfriends.   </p>
<p>“You look absolutely perfect!” Stevie beamed at him once they had finished dressing him up. The drummer scrunched up his face as if having an afterthought before quickly adding “If you weren’t my best friend I swear I would-“</p>
<p>“Yes, I don’t doubt that, Stevie, but could you please not finish that sentence?” the guitarist cut him off, rolling his eyes. Of all the things he needed, his best friend drooling over him was definitely not on top of the list, or on the list at all, come to think of it. At least he looked completely fuckable, he thought with a grin. Let Axl deal with that, he mused with a chuckle.</p>
<p>***</p>
<p>Izzy frowned as his drummer and fellow guitarist entered their rehearsal room. Last time Axl had to come in with an overly eccentric look, and now it was Slash’s turn? Seriously, he was being paid way too little for this shit, he decided, absent mindedly strumming a few chords while looking away from his exuberant band mates. </p>
<p>He most definitely did not hear the rhythm section’s sickening flirting comments to each other, nor did he like the sudden sight of Slash sitting down next to him, guitar in hand, his eyes gleaming eagerly at him.</p>
<p>“I swear, if you ask me one more time where Axl is” he began to say, but the other man cut him short.</p>
<p>“No it’s alright, I don’t care” he replied resolutely, but the strange gleam in his eyes told another story, one the rhythm guitarist wasn’t keen to dig into.</p>
<p>“If you really want to know, he’s locked himself into the bathroom for the last hour or so, still wouldn’t come out when I told him I was going” he added with a sigh to which the other guitarist replied with a mental scream of delight. Oh, really, Axl was making himself pretty for him? He was in for a surprise then, he thought barely repressing a smirk.</p>
<p>“I suppose you don’t know anything about an overly huge bouquet of red roses being delivered to my door” Izzy said nonchalantly as if he was merely discussing the weather. “It’s probably none of my business anyway, as I guess they weren’t meant for me” he finished, rolling his eyes in derision for good measure.</p>
<p>“I have no idea, why should I?” the curly haired man replied without missing a beat. “I remember finding a red rose on my doormat on my birthday, so I guess it’s kind of a fashion trend or something, what do I know” he replied, trying to sound as casual as possible, hiding his bemused grin behind his hair.</p>
<p>“Well, whoever sent it didn’t have to listen to him ranting on for about an hour and a half about who it could possibly be from and what it meant and so on” Izzy explained with a tired sigh, running a hand through his already tousled black hair, making it appear even more unruly. </p>
<p>“Anyway, I’ve got a new solo for rocket queen, wanna hear it?” the curly haired man asked enthusiastically, effectively changing the topic of discussion. The other guitarist was just about to answer when the door to their rehearsal space opened suddenly, revealing a sigh that had Izzy quickly looking away, shaking his head in disbelief.</p>
<p>“Oh no, not this now” he whispered tiredly, running a hand over his face while the blonde drummer erupted in a fit of hysterical laughter. Slash’s head whipped around at the sound, taking a double take before looking away, his cheeks suddenly burning. Here stood Axl, clad in nothing beside a plaid shirt completely open to reveal his hairless chest coupled with a pair of familiar red underwear, and nothing else. </p>
<p>The lead guitarist slowly stood up with a small sigh, mentally bracing himself for a direct confrontation; so much for dressing up, he thought mentally chastising himself, but he wasn’t giving up this soon no matter what.</p>
<p>“Please tell me you didn’t walk all the way dressed like this” Izzy asked, gritting his teeth in barely suppressed frustration.</p>
<p>“Of course not, someone gave me a ride” the redhead replied, standing straight with his hands on his hips, glaring angrily at Slash who was making a show of eyeing him up and down with a hungry look on his face.</p>
<p>“See something you like? Should I get you a bucket to collect your drool?” the singer asked with a sarcastic sneer. </p>
<p>“Actually I think I have a better idea” the guitarist shot back, a mischievous grin spreading slowly on his lips as he made a grab at the other man’s scantily dressed ass. Axl was faster and quickly took a step back, seething in anger at the curly haired man’s bold move.</p>
<p>“Hands off” the redhead growled dangerously, green eyes shining in anger.</p>
<p>“Or what?” the guitarist asked defiantly, closing the space between them in one confident stride, not breaking the eye contact. “Tell me you didn’t dress like this for me, I dare you” he added, his voice barely above a whisper.</p>
<p>“And I dare you to try and do something, anything” the singer snarled back, hands bawling into fists. The tension was so thick it could have been cut with a knife; the other three musicians gaped at them wordlessly, the only sound in the room being Stevie’s small gasp of shock.</p>
<p>Slash stood his ground, finding it actually easier than he would have thought to not back down, no matter how close they were to each other. He could feel the redhead’s body heat, smell his familiar scent, feel his breath on his own lips, and ever so slowly moved even closer in a couple of inches. Any closer and they would be fully pressed against each other. The curly haired man’s breath became quicker, his eyes slowly fluttering closed, the singer’s eyelashes blinking quickly too as he seemed to be pulling all of his willpower to neither give in or pull away.</p>
<p>“Why don’t you guys just get a room, for fuck’s sake” Izzy’s quiet, yet resolutely indignant voice sliced suddenly through the thick silence, effectively breaking the awkward moment. The pair jumped apart, quickly looking away from each other as Izzy huffed, rolling his eyes at them.</p>
<p>“I swear, rehearsals were a lot easier when you two were fucking each other’s brains out, just saying” he added, slowly shaking his head. Seriously, why did rehearsals always turn out as if he was a teacher in some kindergarten lately?</p>
<p>“Fuck off, Stradlin” Axl shot back, but all animosity seemed now gone from his voice. Slash quickly grabbed his guitar and strapped it on, thankful that the other man was currently so busy looking everywhere than at him that he had completely failed to notice his rapidly growing arousal.</p>
<p>“And you two” Izzy continued, now addressing the rhythm section of the band as Duff was whispering something in Steven’s ear that had the drummer erupt in a fit of giggles. “Do I need to book you the room next door to these idiots here so you can all have your little fun while I can finally concentrate on doing something creative and music related here? Christ, why does it always look like I’m the only responsible one here?”</p>
<p>“And how exactly do you expect to be able to concentrate with him prancing around dressed like that?” Slash asked in half faked distress, motioning towards Axl and his unusual attire.</p>
<p>“Close your eyes, look away, whatever, I don’t care” Izzy sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. Seriously, why was he the one who always had to deal with everyone’s shit? So much for leaving Indiana to start a new life in California, he reflected bitterly; maybe he should just ditch all these idiots, go back to his hometown, buy a farm far from human civilization and plant corn all over the place, maybe even get a couple of goats for company, at least their conversation would be less headache inducing than that of the four oafs he called his bandmates.</p>
<p>“So, where do we start?” he asked finally, raising his eyebrows expectantly at the redhead menace that was their leader; keeping everyone in line and taking matters into his hands was supposed to be his job, right?</p>
<p>“Actually I have some new lyrics here, if anyone’s interested to hear them” Slash suddenly declared, to anyone’s astonishment, slowly pulling a notebook out of his pocket. Izzy frowned at the curly haired man’s expression of anticipation, he had a bad feeling about this, but who was he to claim the rights to write lyrics solely to him and Axl? If the others wanted to contribute, then by all means they were welcome to give it a try. </p>
<p>“Fine, go ahead then” he encouraged the other guitarist with a curt nod, keeping his eyes on their singer who appeared both curious and displeased by this sudden turn of events, watching Slash intently, eyes narrowed dangerously.</p>
<p>“Alright, so this is dedicated to someone very special to me” the curly haired man said slowly, stealing a quick glance at the redhead, whose eyes widened in shock, shooting daggers at him. Axl was pissed, the guitarist reflected, this was good; a pissed off Axl was way easier to manipulate than a calm, controlled smart one. Taking a deep breath, his fingers clutching tightly the cover of his notebook he began to recite.</p>
<p>“Once again when I hear the deep sound of my engine roar<br/>
I can’t stop thinking about you anymore</p>
<p>And when the stars in the night sky twinkle<br/>
Why I can’t say, all I can hear is your whistle</p>
<p>Next day I look, I look deep into your eyes<br/>
Next thing you know I forget all the other guys”</p>
<p>Slash took a brief pause, savoring the quizzical glances on his bandmate’s faces, savoring the blush deepening on Axl’s face. This was only the beginning, written with the help of Stevie the king of ‘overly cheesy, so bad it wouldn’t make even your grandmother smile’ poetry. The rest was his own, and it took all of his willpower to repress a grin when he went on to his favorite part of the poem. </p>
<p>“I’ll write the most romantic prose<br/>
All for you my sweet rose</p>
<p>Right now you look at me with all of your sass<br/>
Yet all poor me can think about is your ass”</p>
<p>By now Axl really did look uncomfortable, eyes looking even more murderous by the minute, and still Slash bravely, holding the singer’s shaken gaze.  </p>
<p>“My fingers stroking up your thigh<br/>
I swear there’s never been a better high</p>
<p>And then my tongue goes out to lick<br/>
All of that nectar off your precious dick”</p>
<p>“All right, that’s enough” Izzy cut off all of a sudden, glowering at both Slash and Axl. “This has<br/>
reached private matters, and I don’t want to hear any more of it. I think rehearsal’s done for today, we won’t be getting anywhere anyway, so I quit for now” he declared, all but slamming his guitar into its case.</p>
<p> “That’s not fair, I wanted to hear the rest of it!” Steven exclaimed with a pout.</p>
<p>“Oh no you don’t, come on, we’re leaving” Izzy shot back with a venomous glare towards his lead guitarist and singer, grabbing the drummer in a vice like grip by his arm, effectively steering him towards the exit. “Let’s allow them to deal with their issues, whatever they are.” Duff rapidly bolted from the door while Axl glared at the lead guitarist, raising his eyebrows as if to say ‘see what you did there?’</p>
<p>The sound of the door being locked brought them both out of their staring contest; in an instant the redhead was at the door, pounding furiously on it. Slash stared at the locked door, confused, then gaped in shock as he realized exactly what their bandmates were doing.</p>
<p>“Izzy! Open the fucking door, we’re still in here!” Axl yelled angrily.</p>
<p>“I’ll only let you out when you two have talked and sorted out whatever bullshit there is to sort out” came Izzy’s reply from the other side, his voice sounding almost bored.</p>
<p>“You can’t force me, you fucker! I refuse to go along with your clever little plan, do you hear me?”</p>
<p>“Then you’ll be locked in there for the rest of your life, you stubborn prick” the rhythm guitarist answered with a frustrated sigh. “Just man up and talk to him, for fuck’s sake, it’ll do us all a favor.”</p>
<p>Slash slowly lowered himself to the floor, sitting there with his legs crossed, quietly watching the other man furiously pounding and kicking on the door while screaming death threats at their friends outside. He couldn’t hide a smirk of satisfaction, silently thanking Izzy for his cleverness, for he had just given him the opportunity he had been waiting for so long.  </p>
<p>He lazily fetched a cigarette from the pack in his pocket, lighting it while waiting for the redhead to rage himself out. Not that he minded though, Axl looked quite hot when he was all upset like that, he reflected with a smile, watching the other man kick and scream at the door as if his life depended on it.</p>
<p>As expected the singer gave up after a couple more minutes of yelling and kicking, then turned around to stare in disbelief at the other man calmly sitting there smoking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.</p>
<p>“What in hell are you sitting around for? Are you going to help me break down the door or should I fetch you a beer, maybe butter you a few sandwiches while you watch me do all the work?” the redhead seethed angrily.</p>
<p>“You know Izzy better than I do, and he’s even more stubborn than you are” Slash replied rolling his eyes. “The only way to get out is to cooperate. Now come over here and have a smoke with me, it’s time we both have a nice little chat.”</p>
<p>“And why the fuck should I?” Axl shot back angrily, his eyes flashing dangerously. </p>
<p>“Because you don’t have a choice” the guitarist answered calmly. For a moment the redhead looked like he wanted to hit him, but then his tense body suddenly relaxed, and he shook his head in defeat before slowly dragging himself to where the guitar player was sitting, slumping down on the floor sulking. Slash repressed a chuckle, hiding his amusement behind his mop of curls and handed out the cigarette pack to the other man, who accepted it reluctantly.</p>
<p>“As for beer and sandwiches, as you generously offered, I’m all for it, and may I have a blowjob too since you’re in such a generous mood?” Slash answered with a big, teasing grin.</p>
<p>“You think all of this is funny, right?” the redhead snapped at the other man, who met his gaze unblinkingly, simply staring back for a short moment before allowing his lips to curl up into a smile.</p>
<p>“You would too if you could see yourself right now” Slash whispered quietly. “You gotta admit it though, Izzy’s a genius.” Axl rolled his eyes at him, but his expression softened visibly.</p>
<p>“I’m gonna kill the bastard as soon as he opens the door, believe me. You wanna talk? How about helping me find the best way to do it? I’m open to all suggestions. Light me up?”<br/>
The last part was spoken in such a casual tone that the curly haired man was briefly taken aback. Axl leant over to him, dangerously close to his face again as the guitarist fumbled clumsily with his lighter to comply. He wasn’t sure if he imagined it or not, but he thought he saw a flash of amusement in the green eyes in the brief flame of his lighter, gone in an instant as the other man leant back to smoke away silently in the dim light of the warehouse they used to rehearse.</p>
<p>The guitarist almost forgot his own cigarette as he took in the sight in front of him; Axl simply sitting there on the dusty floor, his red hair shining dimly in the dull light coming in from the small dirty windows. The singer was staring into empty space, lost in his thoughts and completely oblivious to the curly haired man’s gaze who took advantage of this precious time to look, simply look at him in a way he hadn’t been able to for way too long. God, how he had missed that, he thought with a sigh.</p>
<p>The sudden sound in the otherwise quiet room seemed to startle the other man whose head whipped around, piercing gaze now solely focused on him, soft with an underlying dangerous glint to it like a predator watching his prey, observing and analyzing his every move.     </p>
<p>“So, you want to talk” Axl said after what seemed like an eternity of silence, his words weirdly echoing around the room. It wasn’t a question, but a mere statement, a hint of brashness in his voice daring the other man to contradict him. “Let’s talk then. What have you been up to lately?” he asked in an obviously fake conversational tone.<br/>
“Writing poetry about my dick, I assume? How typical of you. Though I must admit you have balls to stand there and recite all that bullshit in front of our bandmates.”</p>
<p>“Bullshit, that’s really what you think it is?” Slash relied in an equally fake insulted tone, placing a hand over his heart in an overly dramatic way. Axl snorted, rolling his eyes with a bemused expression that didn’t go unnoticed.</p>
<p>“Some parts of it I actually liked” he confessed in a whisper after a brief silence. “No one had ever written poetry for me before, you know” he said barely audibly, staring intently at the floor where he was tracing patterns in the dirt with a finger.</p>
<p>The guitarist could feel his heart beating harder, but no matter how hard he tried to find the perfect words to reply, somehow he couldn’t find them.</p>
<p>“I’ve missed you” he finally said. “I know, it’s cheesy and way too romantic for the likes of us, but I mean it. I really did. Waking up next to Stevie really isn’t the same thing as waking up next to you, believe me.”</p>
<p>“You’re such a romantic person” Axl retorted with a chuckle. Their eyes met for a brief moment before both pulled away, slightly uncomfortable in this new comfort of theirs, no matter how ironic that might sound. Axl’s finger went back to tracing useless patterns on the ground, which the other man’ eyes followed eagerly.</p>
<p>“That rose for my birthday, it was from you? So was the record, right?” Slash asked after some time of smoking in blissful silence. He tried to make it sound like a statement rather than a question, but his nerves betrayed him. If the redhead noticed, he didn’t give any sign of it.</p>
<p>“I dunno what you’re talking about, nor do I know anything about that huge bouquet of red roses Izzy found on his doormat” Axl replied with a very fast, ’blink and you’ll miss it’ wink.</p>
<p>“So… what happens now?” Slash finally asked after they had both smoked their third cigarette to the ground.</p>
<p>“These idiots will only let us out if we, what was it again? ‘Talk our shit out’ if I’m not mistaken?” Axl yelled loudly enough to be heard from the front door, while giving his partner a knowing look. Now it’s your turn to act, it seemed to say. The guitarist took a deep breath and slowly made his way towards the door, stopping on his way to grab the redhead’s arm, fighting not to give in to his struggles until they were face to face with the unyielding metallic door.</p>
<p>“We’re here, and we’ve talked” Slash called out tentatively, releasing his grip on Axl’s arm, sending him an apologetic look in the process. Said look was returned with one of pure loathing, but the guitarist didn’t really care, he knew they had already won, both of them.  </p>
<p>“So, what do you say we go out tonight , talk it all through and have a drink together? I promise I’ll buy yours” the curly haired man said loud enough to be heard on the other side of the door, only to be met by a steely glare from the man by his side, which he chose to ignore with a shrug.</p>
<p>It took some time, enough for Slash to believe that his so clever plan had definitely gone to ashes before the redhead finally spoke after what seemed like ages.</p>
<p>“Alright then.”<br/>
The next, more than welcome sound they heard was the lock of the door clicking as it was unlocked.</p>
<p>“Nice pants, Slasher” Axl whispered, briefly but firmly squeezing one of his leather clad buttocks before walking out into the night .</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Actually I'm kind of torn here, as I'm still not quite sure if I want to end Axl and Slash's bickering and teasing each other just yet, so it's a (somewhat forced) truce between them now but it might not be the end of their fight yet!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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